I'm Inevitable
by Kirby77DP77
Summary: After living in the tower as Clockwork's apprentice for four years, Danny finds giving himself up the only option left to save his mentor. Now that the Head Ancient has sentenced him to a life being tortured at Vlad's in exchange for Clockwork's life.. Now rated M for violence.
1. Prologue

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

_**Complete Summary:**_

_After living in the tower as Clockwork's apprentice for four years, Danny finds giving himself up the only option left to save his mentor. Now that the Head Ancient has sentenced him to a life being tortured at Vlad's in exchange for Clockwork's life... He finds out just how inevitable defeat truly is._

Inevitable

_Prologue:_

* * *

Some things are inevitable. They must happen, whether you like it or not. You can do nothing to change it, and sometimes, by changing something else you are the cause of the event in your attempt to prevent it. The event will take place, because the time stream needs to be ever-flowing down its rapids and smooth waters. Who, however, is to look after this torrent of confusion?

Why, the Time Master of course. He or she will regulate the stream, moving its small stones and boulders down until they are unneeded or are a threat to the fragile timeline. Now, this means the Watcher of Time will be in constant alert. They must be always gazing into the clear, blue water to observe what needs to be observed, and –let's just say- **_relinquish_** any rouge stones from the stream, should they be any threat. That, however, will be but one of the duties of the Time Master. This being must be understanding, and compassionate with others, even those who are not of their kind. They must hold no prejudice toward anyone. On the other hand, though, this being must be tough and powerful, for no one shall be permitted to cross this noble Guardian of Time with their life intact. As the last, and most important requirement that this being must have, is to be the wisest creature in existence. They must be able to handle the responsibility of total control without turning to selfish needs. The time stream always comes first: No exceptions. This is a silently understood rule among Time Keepers.

The other understood rule among the Time Keepers is to care for the subjects that they have under them. So, this means that the Time Master at the time will do all that this ghost or person can to keep peace, harmony, and general happiness among the people that look up to them for help.

In turn, every ghost in the Ghost Zone loves the Time Master. They may offer things like allegiances, protection, friendship, and general loyalty. The Time Master, however, will most likely give a "thanks but no thanks", and just continue to do their job. This is why about a rough eighty-nine percent of ghosts loved the Time Master.

Now the Ancients, are a different story. The Ancients are the government of the ghost zone. They are "in charge" of the Time Masters and some more powerful ghosts. The Time Master presided over every other ghost in the ghost zone, and were feared and respected. These Ancients, the high ranking ghosts –around about two hundred- are presided over by a Head Ancient. The Head Ancient is not a ghost, but a different creature entirely. The name of this creature has been lost to the centuries, however, it was known for its great controlling presence and leadership qualities among other things. This leader will have the final decision on everything from court to which new Ancients he will hire to replace the others.

The Head Ancient has a different set of rules for the Masters of Time. These rules are used to enforce the Ancients' rule and oppress the duties of Keeping Time. These rules had been detested for millions of years by the Time Masters.

The first rule is Time Masters must obey the Head Ancient. He is the elder and far more powerful, therefore, must be obeyed at all costs. Failure to obey would result in instant death and/or taken out of existence… forever. Or, if you have special connections with the Ancients on the inside, you could just get off with a warning and three hundred and seventy-five years in prison, Ghost Zone time.

The next rule is to never abuse your privileges as Time Master. Those privileges could be taken away at any time by the Head Ancient. Should the Time Master interfere with the time stream, or cheat in any way, the privileges of entering the human world, life, and being in court shall be removed… permanently.

Another rule is the restrictions in choosing an apprentice. The Head Ancient must approve the candidate, and give the okay at least fifteen years in advance. The candidate must be at least half a century old to submit a request to become Time Keeper's Apprentice, and be an honest and wise creature, however, should there be a time when there is no Master of Time or Apprentice; a capable Ancient may resume the Keeper's duties. The race of the candidate may be either ghost or human. Failure to respond to these restrictions would result in extermination of existence.

The first Time Mistress in existence was very good with these rules and fulfilled almost all of these standards. She was a noble and wise creature that had distanced herself from the time stream to care for it tenderly, and kept it flowing at a gentle, soothing pace. This woman had but one flaw. She let her human qualities –for she was as human as they come- get in the way. She embraced the power, and overtime it blinded her. She ended up destroying the creatures called dinosaurs through her stupid choices in order to get herself more power.

Her successor was a ghost. This ghost was extremely different from most of his kind, for his pleasant and intelligent nature that separated him from the rest. He was an outcast until he was taken in by the first Time Mistress to be her one and only apprentice. He, however, was only in existence for two years as a ghost when she sent for him. So, she had to get permission for his Apprenticeship when he turned fifty-five, and when she did, he became the most powerful, feared and loved being in the Ghost Zone. He was molded into a perfect decision-maker, caretaker, Watcher, and friend by the Time Mistress she perished in an execution for her foolish meddling in time.

Eventually, her apprentice took over her post as Keeper of Time. He dictated the lives of the beings from human to ghost and everything in between, but disposed of any threats with an iron fist. This new detached Time Master always knew what to do. That was, until he met Daniel Fenton.

Clockwork knew, from then on, it would be much harder to stay unfeeling, and all-knowing. That is was going to be so much harder to stay focused… When he started to care for Danny as his son.

* * *

**_All right! I know some of you will be coming with pitch forks and torches later, but please note that I am not abandoning my other stories. I am just putting them on HIATUS for a bit while I work on this and some other things._**

**__****_So, how did you like this so far? I know it was a lot of just explanation, but it is just a prologue. _**

**_kirby_**


	2. How to Save a Life

_**I don't own Danny Phantom.**_

_**I'm Inevitable**_

_How to Save a Life:_

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life.

_~How to Save a Life by The Fray_

* * *

"The penalty is ten years of torture by the Ancients, and then termination from existence."

The candle light shone on a young halfa's pale, stress lined face through the hood of his long, black cloak. His electric green eyes had dulled as they glared at the floor in anger, but all Danny could say was, "Let him go." The teenager's head rose and just looked at the Head Ancient across the room, his eyes pulsing green in fury. "He was just doing his job."

The white cloaked creature said nothing, but gave the pack of what looked to be at least two hundred snotty, egotistic, Ancients the signal to leave. It took a moment for all of them to file out of the small room in Clockwork's Tower, but after a good ten minutes it was just the Head Ancient, Danny, two guards, and his rope bound and gagged mentor.

Danny's lost gaze fell to the Head Ancient once more, pleading silently, and throwing his dignity out the window. He had been drug down to this point by desperation and the cruel creature before him, whom detest swam with its being. "Please…" Danny croaked with this hoarse voice, "Please! I'll do anything!" Desperation showed in his voice, and the Ancient just laughed cynically. His laugh echoed throughout the entire castle, shaking the very foundation, and crashing down Danny's small hopes.

"_**PLEASE!"**_ The young half ghost screamed in one last ditch effort as he dropped to his knees, _**"I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! JUST LEAVE HIM-"**_

The Ancient just cut him off, and the ghost just radiated power. "Silence!" Danny cringed and froze in midsentence, like a deer in headlights, just staring in fear. "You say you will do anything, child?" The teenager nodded quickly in fear of doing much else. "Well, then that changes things quite a bit, doesn't it?" Relief exhaled from Danny as a thankful smile graced his worried features. Maybe he could save him!

The white robed Head Ancient's face was twisted into a corrupted meld between an evil smile and a smirk. His long, skinny frame floated as his ghost-like tail swerved back and forth to keep him in the air, above the 'lesser beings'. He was, after all an Ancient. Those pompous idiots always needed to appear bigger and better than the rest of the ghosts. The thing that made him that, however, was not his height or his creepy gaunt facial features. It was the blindingly white aura that surrounded his form. And said aura of power seemed to brighten at the thought of condemning a child, and Danny Phantom nonetheless!

"Alright, you insufferable child, I will give you a deal." The Ancient stated proudly with his head raised high, "You will take double of the equivalent of his torture, and I will let him live. Although he will no longer be allowed to meddle with time, he will live. He may only watch, not interfere, or he will perish." A small glint of fear shrouded the halfa's eyes, but he just shook it off. What was a little torture compared to his mentor's existence? "However," The Ancient boomed happily, "your sentence will be served in a place where no ghost or human will hear you scream. You may not step one finger outside the property, and you will not set foot in Clockwork's tower _**ever**_ again. You will be banished and left with nothing."

Danny felt his stomach drop to his feet in fear. His mouth gaped open like a fish as he kept himself from sinking to his knees in horror. His legs had become jelly at the realization. "No…" He breathed out, but not loud enough for the old ghost to hear him. Danny knew what this meant for him now…

Exile.

Unshed tears glistened in his eyes, but he did not let one drop fall.

He would be strong, Clockwork needed him to be.

Yes, Danny knew he could survive a life of torture at some prison for his gentle teacher. It was the least he could do, after all. Clockwork had taken him in with the goodness of his heart, and now Danny was going to repay his wise friend.

He took a deep breath as Danny finally let his eyes connect with his mentor. Red met green, and for the first time, Danny saw something in the ghost's eyes that he had never seen present before.

It was true fear… For his apprentice and surrogate son. He saw Clockwork struggle to get out of his bindings, but with the two guards next to him and with no Time Staff, it was no use. The Master of Time was trapped and helpless. The ghost could only shake his head 'no' as Danny sent a look of grief and desperation back at him, conveying all he could to his mentor. A silent goodbye echoed between them when their eyes connected.

It was like looking into a sea of crimson, filled with desperation, worry, and intense fear that was being attempted to be covered up by a glint of something that Danny did not recognize.

Later, he would see that it was parental love for his child in all but blood.

But the young halfa did not think of that right then and there. Then, at that moment, all he could think about was that he was making his deal with the devil. He would not his ghost powers, and he would at Vlad's while never looking back. Danny saw that he could never see the wise ghost in front of him ever again.

And he felt… rejected and detested. All anyone close to him ever did was leave him, and now Clockwork was going to forcibly join the ranks of people who didn't want him. Mom, Dad, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all fit onto it, and Danny felt in the pit of his stomach that many more would join before he drew his last breath.

And he was morbidly all right with that… As long as Clockwork was safe.

The old ghost must have seen the utter sorrow and rejection flitting in his eyes, because Danny saw Clockwork's worried expression of tensed facial muscles relaxed and softened at the child before him. He gave the eighteen year old a small smile that didn't reach his scarred and tinted red eyes.

Tears threatened to stream down Danny's face, but he felt as if the life had been sucked out of him. It was as if he had no The half ghost closed his eyes with a pained expression, and without considering that he was signing his life away, he rasped out, "All right."

For the good of his mentor and for the good of the timeline.

* * *

The next thing Danny Fenton knew, he was getting handcuffed and led away from his beloved mentor by the two ugly, crusty ghosts.

Evil crusty number one was a robust Ancient. He had long sideburns that flared out at the base of his ears, and a triangular shaped face that made him look extremely ill proportionate to his two hundred and eighty pound muscled body. Broad shoulders and giant triceps and biceps completed the man's body builder look, but the white robe just ruined the entire image. The robe –which actually looked more like a poor choice in drapery-, was the Ancient garb, because apparently, if you want to rule a zone then you have to have poor fashion sense and no pants. It had the appearance of a thick woven blanket of white that was surrounded by the eerie white glow of the Ancients, but the worst part of the horrible attire –besides the lack of shape, fact that they wore _**flip flops**_ with it, and the sheer whiteness of it- were the hideous golden tassels that looked to belong on a curtain that hung on the hem of the dress, at the Ancients ankles.

Now, while evil and crusty number two had the same pants-less outfit on, this guard had a much more _**interesting **_look. The first thing was the lack of gender recognition. The she-male had a soft, womanly face with curvy features and hair down to it's shoulders, but had the build of a man from the neck and down. However, if you ignored the lack of gender, this guard was… creepy. It wore a sadistic smile on it's face all the time, only to break it for a glint of anger in it's eye. Also, the she-male only had one eye, and to make it worse, the guard didn't even wear an eye patch, but just let everyone see the empty socket.

But Danny couldn't bring himself to find humor in the Ancients' horrible fashion sense or style. He simply didn't care. His body was working robotically, his mind far away in a distant land, and Danny couldn't believe what he had just done.

The burly white robed specters led him out of the meeting room and into his room of the castle, grunting for Danny to get his belongings, seeing as he was never returning to his ghostly home.

Danny's room was an extremely life-like replica of the clearest nighttime sky. The stars glittering like a mild summer night, and comets shot across the vast outer space. What was in the room itself was a simple black metal dresser, a clock, a mirror, and a queen sized bed.

Danny stumbled dazedly across the room like a drunken man of eighteen, collecting the pocket watch, and the time medallion Clockwork had given him for his birthday along with the rest of his clothes.

He couldn't help thinking about the day he had first come here… How desperate and scared he was! Danny remembered the blood and tears that had trickled down his face, and how Clockwork had embraced him like a son. The Time Ghost had given him a room, kindness, and his expert medical skills had patched up his fatal injuries in around a month. But Danny had not wanted to leave.

So, the Master of Time gave the young half ghost a choice. He could stay and become his apprentice, or go back to his biological family. But, Clockwork had cautioned him. If Danny stayed with him, Clockwork would not be able to see his future or be able to _**interfere **_with it. So basically, if he screwed something up, no one but himself could fix it. But anything was better than going back to Fenton Works.

_**That place**_ was no longer his home… Not anymore, at least.

Pain erupted in the back of the halfa's head as the guard jolted him back to the present with a swift slap to the head. They grunted for him to move, and grabbed the back of his neck to pull him out of the room with his duffle bag personal items in hand.

All Danny could do to conserve what was left of his sanity was push away all of his negative feelings as they drug him out the door, and into the Ghost Zone…

To his _**banishment**_.

* * *

_**So what did you think? I really appreciate all of your alerts and favorites, but I really wish I'd get a review... I haven't gotten any feedback yet, and I'm wondering what you guys think. Thank you for reading!**_

_**kirby**_


	3. Save Me From the Gallows Pole

_**I don't own Danny Phantom.**_

_**I'm Inevitable**_

_"Gallows Pole" by Led Zeppelin_

_Brother, I brought you some silver, yeah.  
I brought a little gold, I brought a little of everything  
To keep you from the Gallows Pole.  
Yes, I brought you to keep you from the Gallows Pole._

Hangman, hangman, turn your head awhile,  
I think I see my sister coming, riding many mile, mile, mile.  
Sister, I implore you, take him by the hand,  
Take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,  
Please take him, save me from the wrath of this mad, man.

_Save me from the gallows pole._

* * *

They were half way to Vlad's when Danny winced inwardly as he saw the crowd of ghost gather around him and the guards. He subconsciously tugged the hood of his flowing black cloak down farther as he felt the stares bore into him like arrows.

He felt so very guilty. Here he was, a powerful Time Apprentice, and yet he couldn't protect the ghosts that presided under him.

…At least… **_Now_** he wouldn't be able to defend them. Once the Head Ancient finds no resistance to his taking over time, he will most likely aim to become Ghost Zone's tyrannical overlord. And knowing the Head's disgusting lack of morals- or a heart- he would torture the inhabitants of the zone just for the heck of it.

And it was all Danny's fault.

Shame shattered Danny's heart when he saw their frightened faces of some of the younger ghosts. Some of them had barely been dead long enough to reach their fourth deathday. One little girl with little black pigtails that looked to be about three was crying hysterically in the front, frantically asking him where he was going and begging him not to continue through her sobs.

He wanted to comfort her, and tell her that everything would turn out all right…. But he couldn't bring himself to lie to her. Danny merely whispered to her as they passed, "Stay safe," But when they were just about to pass her, he had a stroke of brilliance. Even though he couldn't defend them anymore, maybe he could give them something to fight for and some hope.

He didn't want them going down without a fight!

The young apprentice let a smirk light up his features as he put his cuffed hands together. Visualizing a picture of what he wanted, Danny forced the cold sensation of his core into his hands while he felt small tendrils of the dark shadows twirl around his gloved fingers. (He thanked God that the stupid phase proof cuffs only worked on the 'run of the mill' ghost powers and not his elemental powers: ice, or his newly developed power that Clockwork had taught him.)

The apprentice's smirk turned to a grin when he 'accidentally' stepped on the she-male guard's foot to his right. A howl of pain put his plan into action, and with a swift motion he placed the expertly formed object in the weeping child's hands. Danny gave her a smile before darting back between the guards.

It happened so fast that the other guard hadn't even noticed until the stomped foot one came and gripped the prisoner again, but his vice grip was now painful. His ghostly nails sliced into his skin.

To Danny's happiness, however, the guard had not seen the slightly blue tinged crystal stopwatch that had his new insignia of a full moon on it.

The idiot Ancients simply tightened their grip to a point where Danny could feel his blood stop circulating, and then kept down their trip to the 'prison' they were going to.

A random thought preached how at least that would make Walker happy. Maybe he'd end up serving his sentence after all… in Vlad's house.

"Ancients… Why are they…?"

Danny snapped out of his thoughts as he heard murmurs surround him. About twenty five-ish pairs of eyes oogled at him being taken away, and they added their comments to the whispers.

"Dragging him…"

"Is that him?"

"Demon… The Time Apprentice!"

"…Why would they…?"

"The Time dude's kid…"

"He looks ticked off… "

"What'd he do…?"

"Why...?"

"The cloak…"

"Poor kid… Why…?"

"That's Clockwork's son!"

"Why… Here?"

"Ancient guards… Haven't seen… Since Pariah… Why…?"

Danny looked with his florescent green eyes at the all too familiar ghosts whispering around him. There was good old Skulker aiming a bazooka looking thing at the group the half ghost was in, but Danny smiled when he realized the hunter was aiming at the guards around him. There stood Dora, Kitty, Johnny 13, Bertrand, Fright Knight, Spectra, Frostbite, and Lunch Lady, who all just stared curiously. Spectra didn't even had the guts to try to suck up the halfa's misery as he walked by even though she was close enough. However, what lifted Danny's spirits the most was the small group of Frostbite and his men glaring daggers at the guards. They formed ice spears in their hands, and screamed in protest.

"How dare you mess with the Time Master's son!"

Now, this will be needing an explanation. You see, after Danny had joined Clockwork, the halfa completely altered his identity. The Master of Time didn't want any of Danny Phantom's former enemies or friends to get in the way with his new apprentice's duties, and was met with a very agreeable Danny on that issue.

Over his black jeans and jet black t-shirt lay a midnight silk cloak with a small emblem on his chest embroidered of a bright white full moon. Attached to the cloak was a large silken hood that covered his hair and eyes, that is, until Danny made his eyes glow to frighten off ones that he had been told to scare.

And frightening Danny was. Too many of the ghosts of the Ghost Zone, however, thought of the Time Master's son of a ruler of a sort. As he had glided through out the Zone, he was kind to all that inhabited it, and to some; like Skulker, Frostbite, and the Box Ghost for example, he had saved from the brink of disaster. The Demon of Shadows – for that is what the residents of the Zone came to call him, because of his attire and strange new power - also a 'ruler' in their eyes, because he was simply easier to ask for advice than Clockwork. The ghosts hated the man's riddle speak, and were happy to see that the Apprentice's blunt advice was the polar opposite of riddles.

Well… At least sometimes they weren't riddles.

To put it simply: the ghosts loved the Demon of Shadows… It was a good thing they didn't know who resided under the hood.

But, back to the argument at hand.

One ice warrior screeched as he threatened the guards with the spear. "The Time Master and his son are under the Far Frozen's protection!" Frostbite stepped to the front of the group of supporters. His arms were shaking in fury, and in one hand was the longest, sharpest ice spear Danny had ever seen. This spear had to be at least seven feet tall of clear, perfect ice. The yeti type warrior thrust the spear with all his might at the guard to Danny's left.

But then…. Everything started to slow down. The spear twirled through the air as if it was in slow motion, and the young halfa started to smirk at the ice shard's path. It was going to hit the guard in the chest, right above where the ghosts' power supply is. If that flying icicle were to hit, the ghost's power supply for emotions and ectoplasm would fail and he would be knocked out of existence.

And Danny could simply find no downside to this, to put it bluntly. A) There was one less guard to push him around. B) Ancients suck, so it'd be really cool if he died. C) A slight revenge for what the Ancients have done to him and Clockwork. It was a perfect situation, really.

_Well,_ Danny thought, _except they might blame me for this… That would give those stupid idiots a chance to imprison me _**and**_ kill Clockwork._

Immediately scrapping that plan, Danny realized his only way of keeping Clockwork safe was not letting the guard die. So, with an aggravated sigh, the young halfa shot one arm out, and caught the dagger in his gloved hand.

An awkward silence followed, and Frostbite looked stunned as Danny tossed the spear back to him casually. With this he said with a powerful tone, "Thank you, but I will be _f-fine_." It was hard for him to choke out the lie through gritted teeth. No matter what identity he was, it was always hard to lie to anyone on his side that had been fighting for him.

And of course Skulker just **_had_** to realize he was lying. "He is under all of our protection." He growled. Danny heard the blue bazooka charge with a small whine, and a sense of pride washed over him. He had never expected that the small green ghost would ever repay him for the kindness Danny had paid him as Clockwork's **_new_** apprentice when he had saved his afterlife, yet the ghost had surprised him. Skulker pulled the trigger just as the guard retaliated with a black ectoblast.

And as soon as the blast left the guard's hand, Danny's patience snapped. **_Nobody _**messed with **_his_** people, especially those who had trusted and protected him, even though his identity had been made secret for years. He wouldn't let any harm come to those under his control.

The half ghost let instinct flood his senses as he wriggled out of the other guard's distracted grip. Before the ghost could grab him again, Danny shot his body in between the two brawlers as the black jet of light soared toward Skulker. The ectoblast smashed into the young halfa's chest, and Danny could feel something twitch inside of him when the black blast was absorbed. Suddenly, a daze flew through his head while his chest tightened. Rubber bands seemed to squeeze the life out him as what felt like bounds around his chest dug deeper into the skin, and a burning feeling just erupted out of Danny's upper body.

The young halfa dropped to his knees in agony. He had never felt so much pain as the feeling of being sucked through a toothpaste tube that was the size of a grain of sand overwhelmed him. He felt his insides twist and turn, almost as though some metal bonds had been squeezing his organs to burst. The constricting feeling only tightened more as he hunched over in pain.

Danny hugged his chest and bit back a whimper of pain as a furious burning sensation also enveloped his being, scorching his rational thought. He slumped over with feral wail that pierced the eardrums of the allied ghosts behind him. But right as Danny's "protectors" were about to jump to his aid, he rasped a desperate, "No!" Frostbite and his men, along with Skulker stopped in their tracks, only to stare as the powerful apprentice in front of them gasped for breath after another ear-splitting scream of agony.

The pain was increasing all the more. Danny felt as though his very core was bleeding from pain, and had just turned to mush from the intense heat he had been experiencing. It thumped and pounded in his chest like his frantic heart had throbbed away in terror. This had to be the worst subject to physical pain he had ever been put under.

But then… Danny looked at the smoking hand of the guard and at Skulker, both of whom were staring flabbergasted at him. Right then and there he realized that whatever had happened to him could happen to the vulnerable ghosts behind him… They were the ghosts that had stood up for him and sprung to his defense, and they would get hit by one of those blasts too if Danny wasn't there to prevent it.

And he had to protect them…. If only for one last time.

The will and determination gave him strength and lessened the pain as the two guards hoisted him back to his feet, and slugged him in the gut to get him moving again.

A groan escaped the halfa's lips while the murmurs flooded into Danny's ears as he doubled over, and he thanked God that no one besides Clockwork and the Ancients knew his real identity. It would have been a terrible if his new allies would see that the ghost they respected was Danny Phantom. They would have never had helped him! After all, most of them are probably still celebrating his disappearance and it would kind of ruin his apprentice image. He had been working on that image ever since he had been forced through the Fenton Portal that fateful day four years ago.

Oh, **_that_** memory was crystal clear. But… no. He wasn't going to think about that.

Danny turned back to the ghosts one last time, figuring that it was the last time he'd see friendly faces, and a smirk rose up on his face. He had another brilliant, yet slightly insane idea.

The prisoner stared right at Skulker and let his eyes glow a florescent light blue with his last bit of energy. As he aimed the beam at the hunter's arm, he concentrated on the frosty words that would appear on the ghost's freezing steel arm.

_"Clockwork has fallen. Ancients are taking over. Assemble a resistance, but do nothing until the time is right, except keep them at bay. The Ancients are powerful._

_I trust you Skulker. Lead them well._

_-The Demon of Shadows aka Clockwork's kid"_

The last thing he saw before his world went black was a steel hunter look at him with eyes full of fear, and nod.

The next thing Danny saw, however, was nightmares blossoming in his subconscious.

* * *

**_So, what do you guys think? Too many descriptions? Was everyone in character? Was it just all around garbage?_**

**_Please tell me your thoughts, ideas, ect.!_**

**_I really appreciate all of your reviews (especially the long ones!), and don't worry... You'll find out what happened at Amity in the next chapter! _**

**_Thanks, _**

**_kirby_**


	4. Face Down

_**I do not own Danny Phantom.**_

_**Slightly disturbing blood and gore coming up, very PG-13.**_

**"Face Down"**

_Do you feel like a man,_

_When you push her around?_

_Do you feel better now,_

_As she falls to the ground?_

_**By: Jumpsuit Apparatus**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Face Down**

"_Get back here you __**miserable**__ excuse for a-" Jack's booming voice was cut off as the ghost portal doors slammed shut. The sound resonated past Danny's ears, and rang throughout the Ghost Zone._

_But it didn't mute the whimpering from the trembling half ghost. Danny clutched where his abdomen should have been in despair as he felt something start to spill out of the large, scientifically executed y-incision. He felt the slimy, tube-like structure (which he prayed wasn't his intestines) moved under his ectoplasm covered ghostly hand._

_Ugggg…. _

_He felt his world spin dangerously as the Ghost Zone seemed to spiral out of control around him as black spots filled his vision. Gripping his thumping head, Danny wretched a sticky yellow gunk from his fevered insides awkwardly over his right side._

_Danny groaned and spat the vile taste of hydrochloric acid into the bottomless Ghost Zone. He could feel the violent shuddering of his being now, and had trouble floating straight._

_Danny took a deep, shaking breath in as he tried to banish the nausea that came with the prospect of losing __**any **__vital organ. But then sprouted an idea in his sick haze that he knew would make any surgeon squeamish. His common sense was tossed in the garbage can as he summoned the cold feeling within his gut._

_He froze his wound over… Quite unexpertly, but, hey, he was… __**creative**__. Granted, the ectoplasm was melting it slightly, it was rigid, hard to fly with, and it wasn't a great patch job… But it did keep internal organs from becoming external organs._

_Thank God for small victories._

_Danny relished in the soothing cold for a moment before he looked around with his blurry vision. He saw some green, Skulker's Island, green, a few purple doors, green, more green in the swirling back round, Walker's Prison, green, Johnny 13 and Kitty's place, and who'd have guessed it, green! _

"_Great…" Danny whispered sarcastically with a weak, trembling voice, "Not a friend in sight." He closed his eyes. The pain was coming back up to strength now and the y-shaped incision was throbbing painfully. The constant pounding of his abdomen and all of the mixing around of his vital organs was not very pleasant, and it was weakening him to an extreme level. It took all the half ghost had to stay in ghost form._

_Danny took a breath. "Think Phantom, think!" He murmured condescendingly as he started to drift forward like a drunk man. _

_Woah… Dizzy…._

_He fell into a stupor as he felt his head loll back when his eyes started to float the back of his head…_

"_Gah!" He jolted back up. "Focus Danny! You need help, so where are you going to go?" _

_Well, any of his enemies' lairs were sort of out of the question. He was trying to __**not **__die. '__**Not**__' being the keyword here. So that left Dani, Frostbite, Dora, Cujo, and Clockwork._

_Seeing as Dani, his now stabilized clone's, location was unknown, she's out. Frostbite could have worked, but as Danny looked down at his frozen abdomen he thought better of it. He really didn't want to end up with a popsicle for a stomach, much like Frostbite's arm. Dora's Realm was on the other side of the Zone, so she's a no. Cujo was a __**dog**__ and most likely is not aware of any medical procedures, so that's a big old negative._

Let's see, Clockwork probably could help. _Danny thought through the intense throbbing of his abdomen_. If he would is a different story, but maybe he'd would point me in the right direction.

"_Off to Clockwork's then," Danny said softly in an attempt to remain positive, but he had a funny feeling that he was too far gone for anyone- ghost or human- to fix him._

_He shook himself. _No,_ he thought, _don't think like that. You'll get out of this!_ And with that he started the challenge of flying with his insides falling out. _

_Great._

* * *

_He had been floating, and struggling with his rapidly melting wound for about an hour now. Danny had been trying to constantly freeze it every twenty minutes as the y-cut melted, but his energy was dwindling. The dizziness had started to settle in along with the weariness and panic, and with that, a faster heart rate. That meant more hot ectoplasm, which started the cycle all over again. _

_Anyway, after that first hour of floating as fast as he could -a whopping two miles per hour- Danny quite literally ran into someone he had not wanted to ever see again._

_Vlad._

_And to be honest, nothing ran through Danny's thoughts. He was too busy dying to care... at all._

_The older half ghost turned around with an expression of murder on his face. He didn't seem to recognize the frail teenager under all of the blood, vomit, ectoplasm, and bruises. Not that he could blame him, of course. Danny's formally white hair was a green and red stained mess that matched his gloved hands and boots, while the black jumpsuit had been completely removed earlier by his captors; leaving only a grimy t-shirt and black jeans that were ripped and torn beyond repair._

_He looked like the living dead, to be honest._

_Vlad grabbed the hem of the child's shirt and pulled Danny's body up so he could look him in the eyes, but Vlad never ended up lifting him high enough. As soon as he tried to move the teen, Danny's shirt gathered inside of now completely melted wound. He could feel the cotton blend fabric slide up against some of his nerve tissue and a part of his stomach._

_His shirt was never __**supposed**__ to meet his stomach._

_Danny felt his gut spasm and he groaned in intense and utter pain, as he doubled over, causing Vlad release him. A feral scream of torment emitted through his vocal chords. His breaths came in ragged gasps, and he tried to maneuver his shirt out of his insides before it hit something more important than just his stomach. He cried out in pain again at the first tug of the shirt, but eventually after many winces and shots of pain later, Danny had freed himself. Figuring he shouldn't take a chance of doing that again, Danny put another thick layer of ice in between the gash on his midsection and his clothing._

_It was just then that he realized Vlad hadn't disappeared, and was gaping at him like a fish out of water that had grown four dozen heads. The man had actually paled about five shades, and looked flabbergasted._

_Even in Danny's pain ridden state, he wished he had a camera as he watched Vlad fumble around for words before shaking his head incredulously. It seemed that the older man had still not realized it had been the teenager he had wanted to take as his apprentice that had collapsed in front of him. So naturally, Vlad flew as fast as he could in the other direction to get away from the 'strange collapsing ghost'._

_And Danny couldn't believe his amazing luck. He had successfully gotten rid of his archenemy without being taken to the God forsaken mansion! So, with a new sense of accomplishment, he pressed forward until he passed out on the stairs of Clockwork's Tower. _

_That was four years ago Clockwork time; but in the human world, it was roughly two weeks._

"In!"

The halfa jumped as the Ancient smacked Danny out of his nightmare filled oblivion that he had been in for who knew how long.

A sense of relief shot into his thumping heart as he realized that he wasn't going through his worst nightmare again.

But at the same time…

Dread.

Anxiety.

A sense of fear coursed through his fried, scorched nerves. He was off to live in a place that was as close to his own personal hell as a person could get. And one question kept resonating through his stressed mind:

How the _**heck**_ was he going to deal with Vlad?

But nobody answered his silent nagging question…

The guard grunted once again as he pointed toward a large purple football, and Danny shrugged and nodded absently with bleak eyes as he stared at the football, glad that the injuries he had felt in his nightmare were gone.

But… running away suddenly seemed like a very good option at that very moment.


	5. Screw the Rules, I Have Money!

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

_**Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series**_

_Yami: "Did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?"_

_Kaiba: "Yeah, so?"_

_Yami: That's against the rules, isn't it?_

_Kaiba: Screw the rules, I have money._

_**-LittleKuriboh**_

* * *

This was his last chance to change his mind and run. He could just blast those guards out of the way and high tail it to Utah, Wyoming, or Oklahoma: somewhere where nothing interesting or bad ever happens. But … He just couldn't take the fact that he would be condemning his mentor and the entire timeline to ultimate destruction and turmoil.

There was just no way he could –or would- ditch Clockwork.

So, with his newly restored confidence in his decision, Danny pulled his hood farther over his eyes, and walked through the Wisconsin Ghost Portal.

His fate was sealed.

* * *

You would think that after four years of extensive training with one of the most powerful beings in the Ghost Zone, that Danny would have learned to get out of a pair of ghost cuffs, but Clockwork didn't seem to think it was of value to teach him, apparently. The halfa scowled and looked around.

He remembered this lab. Even four years couldn't erase that horror story from his mind… The cold examination tables, long syringes, destroyed cloning chamber… This was where Vlad had done uncountable amounts of tests on him, spied on his old home, cloned him, and let us not forget the whole 'endangering his life' thing. The most memorable, however, was not an event that happened during this time line.

The Dan Phantom incident was still his worst experience, even though he no longer cared if his fam- the _Fenton_ family- lived or not. He could practically hear the screams of terror and pain from his human self ringing across the sound proof walls, even long after his ghostly counter-part killed him. The crippled Vlad with his gnarled cane appeared before his eyes, with a look of haunted memories.

"_Some things, my boy, are better left unsaid." _That was what Vlad had told him that day, and it spoke millions… What had happened to his human half that _**scared **_Vlad so much into blocking out all of his memories of the event?

"Probably nothing good," Danny murmured to himself, but loudly enough that the guard next to him thumped him in the back of the head.

"Shut up!" He bellowed in what sounded like a tense ogre's voice. And tense was right. Ever since his partner had gone to get the man of the house, the other guard seemed to hit him with any whisper, movement, breathing, or anything that was 'planning a breakout'.

Because it's _**so**_ easy to kill two guards by breathing….

Danny grimaced. _If I wanted to leave I would have left all ready! _He screamed in his head, _I'm here __**voluntarily,**__ you idiots! _But he knew better than to voice these complaints aloud. After all of his time with Clockwork, Danny had learned the hard way why you don't talk back to Ancients.

None of the scars from those incidents had gone away, even a few of those years…

Suddenly, shouting erupted from the hallway, and he didn't even need to hear the second word, Danny knew who it was. He pulled the hood of his cloak up to the farthest he could as a slight bit of anxiety rushed over him. He couldn't let him know who he was just yet…

"Why the butter biscuits should I have to harbor a criminal then? I funded you idiots a prison!"

Yes, the moment Danny had been absolutly dreading for the last few hours... _**The **_confrontation. And he didn't disappoint! Good old Uncle Vlad. He was just as psychotic as he was the last time he saw him: Four years Danny time, and a mere two weeks Vlad time. Danny could feel the very suspense in the air.

The door to the lab slammed open, revealing a red faced Plasmius, and a very frustrated Ancient guard.

"Look," the guard huffed with his guttural voice, "you don't have to like him. But, he is too powerful for Walker's prison, and since the Ancients despise that one, you're next in line for guard duty."

An amused look crossed Danny's hood shrouded face. It isn't often you see Vlad Masters so flustered with anger that isn't directed at you! Vlad, however, did not look as pleased, and continued to argue with the powerful guard. "Now see here, my civil rights-," he started, but Vlad didn't get to finish his sentence before the guard interrupted.

"It is an _**order**_."

Now that reaction… Priceless.

The rich, proper billionaire had a look of a snobby teenage girl. You know, wavy blonde hair, purse with more diamonds than a 'he went to Jared' commercial, and heavy pink makeup. The whole enchilada. Danny could just picture the man with one hand on his hip and the other snapping his fingers saying, "Oh no, you _**didn't**_!"

Unfortunately, however, Danny's wild imagination is usually incorrect in predicting events. Instead, Vlad merely twitched an eyelid, before he realized he was fighting a losing battle –and that he still needed the Ancients' powerful influence for himself. So he settled for a sneer, and a way to spin around the situation. He said very matter of factly, "Well gentlemen that was rather rude of you to interrupt. I was simply planning to input my excitement for this little _**arrangement**_. Now, I would appreciate to know more about this prisoner. So if you two would kindly-"

Danny shook his head as a maniacal grin shot to his face, and a guttural laugh slipped past his lips, startling the inhabitants of the room. Both of the guards rushed to his side in paranoia and fear as they heard his insane laughter. They, however, could do nothing to quell it. A lopsided grimace blurred onto Danny's face. His hoarse voice, now unrecognizable from the screaming he had done prior to this little outing, cackled through the laughter, "Plasmius, Plasmius, Plasmius… You're lucky _**you**_ have enough money to screw the rules. Now all you need is some green hair!"

A very strange look was given to the halfa by the occupants of the room. Vlad raised an exasperated eyebrow and said to himself in a barely audible dry murmur, "Why did I have to get the convict that needs to cut down on the drugs?"

He was also very taken aback at the prisoner's cracked haunting voice, but never let it show on his face, unlike the guards. They looked terrified and furious all at the same time. The bigger one barely left any time for Danny to react before he slugged him right in the side of the head. Guard number two was also fuming, so he slugged the convict right in the throat, and successfully knocked the wind out of him. They didn't stop there, though. The two village idiots slapped a four inch thick black band around his neck that was embossed with silver writing that said, 'Obedience Collar', and pushed a button on a remote that the smaller guard had in his left hand.

And now, my dear reader, I must ask you something. Have you ever had to wear a dog's shock collar? Yeah? Well amplify that by 700,000 and add heat to that equation. Danny felt his neck burn like a thousand suns. He doubled over as he gripped his throat as pain took over.

He cried out in agony as he suddenly fell to the floor, sending sparks flying off of the collar when he landed with a low _**thump**_ on the hard, unforgiving metal floor.

The halfa's world went black.

Again.

* * *

"Masters," One of the Ancient Guard's grunted once he realized the convict was out cold, "Here's his file. Don't lose it. It has the schedule in it."

Vlad nodded absently as they handed a large manila envelope to him, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the cloaked figure on the floor. The convict seemed so… calm about being a prisoner in a strange lab. The ghost hadn't even tried to escape or at least get out of his handcuffs! Awfully strange behavior for a prisoner… And from what the Ancient guards had told him, he was a powerful convict, at that.

_Hmm… _Vlad thought optimistically, _Maybe this arrangement could work in my favor,_

He looked back to the envelope. It was quite thin, only holding a few papers. He opened it to see a spreadsheet with dates and times down one column and what must have been descriptions in the other, but it was impossible to tell from Vlad's quick glance.

The older half ghost raised an eyebrow. "What is this? A time table?"

The guard nodded, making his sticky, shabby blonde hair blow into the formal man's face. Vlad almost gagged as he brushed it away from his eyes. The guard said, "Yeah. That'd be when we're comin' back to perform the other half of the dam' kid's sentence."

"Kid?" Vlad echoed curiously. In his eyes that convict was nothing remotely associating with a kid. That 'kid' had eyes that looked to be a thousand years old.

"Err… Yeah. It's," The guard looked over Vlad's shoulder to the file, "eighteen years old. Ya know, a kid?" The guard looked at the older half ghost like he was the stupidest thing to walk the Earth.

"Yes, I know what a kid is!" Vlad snapped at the guard. "I meant how long has he looked like a kid. You know, you insufferable guard, _**ghosts**_ look the same forever!"

The guard snorted with amusement, as if sharing an inside joke, and said, "Anyway, next time we get here, we'll need to learn where he'll be sleeping. He needs different shields than most. It'll all be in the file. Read it."

Vlad nodded again, although he didn't like being told what to do by ghosts, he really didn't feel like blasting Ancient Guards. That is and would always be a big no no with the very powerful Ancients.

"Well gentlemen," Vlad smiled a very fake, and insincere smile, "I believe I have it all covered here. Please tell the Head Ancient that he is welcome here anytime, and that I hope he is well. Send my regards."

And with that the guards disappeared into the Ghost Portal.

* * *

_I also do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged references I make in this story. That is the genius of LittleKuriboh._

_So what did you guys think? I updated quicker at least!_

_What do you think about the plot so far? My spelling? Is everyone in character? (That last one is really important to me.) _

_Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it._

_kirby_


	6. What's in a Name?

I don't own Danny Phantom.

I'm Inevitable

Chapter 5: What's in a Name?

_"What's in a name? That which we call a rose__  
__By any other name would smell as sweet."__  
__-"Romeo and Juliet" Act II_

* * *

Vladimir "Vlad" Masters was not an easily frightened man. Things like scary movies –when he used to have time for such pleasantries- did not bother him in the slightest. In fact, the majority of the time he saw scary movies, the halfa had been morbidly chuckling in the back while the other people were screaming in terror.

He had seen things. Things that shook the very soul, tore down mental defenses, and could make you crumple in defeat. He had witnessed sheer amounts if gore, death, _**and**_ horrible cooking.

Vlad knew he could handle anything.

But this ghostly convict…. He had to be certifiably insane, at the least. From his haunting, gaunt features that could barely be seen under his hood, to his low, harsh laugh all seemed to send up red flags! And if only he could have seen the prisoner's eyes… The information of this convict's personality, thoughts, emotions, and actions had been kept secret from him.

But Vlad doesn't like secrets.

If this ghost was going to live under his roof for God knows how long, then he needs to know every depth of his crazed mind. Vlad needs to prepare for this ghost… Not that he's going to enjoy it. Plasmius just needs to get into the Ancients' good graces… After all, they are not a good enemy to have.

As proven by this convict that was nearly beaten to death by two _**guards**_.

Speaking of that convict… He had still not awoken. The cloaked figure just lay in a crumpled heap with his body surrounded by a creepy black glow that Vlad brushed off as the ghostly aura, although he had never seen a black aura before…

If only he knew.

That prisoner, though… The cocky attitude reminded him eerily of young Daniel. How comforting that he could so easily see the young almost-apprentice in the convict's shoes. Vlad scoffed in frustration. This was why he wanted Daniel to join him; to prevent any bad future outcomes to bad choices. _Oh well_, He thought off handily, _that prisoner screwed up his life, however, Daniel can still be won and molded._

But the similarities… The slight, scrawny build down to the fact that both looked so much different than their ages stated they should look, and the intense paranoia was almost identical. Perhaps the convict was on higher alert than young Daniel, but it was close. Both of the different sets of eyes dart around premises before entering and exiting a room, the convict and his soon-to-be apprentice both survey him with an uneasy posture to their bodies, tensed and ready.

Although, it was perfectly clear to Vlad that they weren't one in the same, no matter how likely it would be for Ancients to be angry at Daniel. First of all, they carry themselves differently. While young Daniel has slouched shoulders and an appearance of a bully victim, this prisoner has an eerie confidence about him. It's as if he knows he's better than everyone and can accomplish anything… Like a leader.

Definitely _**not**_Daniel Fenton.

And that prisoner also has a strange fluid, or snake-like grace about him. From just the way he floated in, the convict was sure of his movements, going so far as to knowing how to fall when he was shocked into unconsciousness.

Quite honestly, Vlad suspected he'd have to _**inject**_ the clumsy Daniel with some magic serum for the child to gain anything close to grace.

And this strange prisoner seemed to have power, and know how to use it. A dangerous combination proved by the terrified glances the guards had been shooting over at the prisoner since they had arrived, until they took their leave.

Sure Daniel has power too, but… _**This**_ power… Feared by the Ancients themselves…

Hmmm…. _Perhaps,_ Vlad mused, _this one could be of use._

Vlad was going to have to find out that ghost's powers, weaknesses, strengths, and just about everything else. He needed to scope out his options on the prisoner's behavior and what he could use him for. _Perhaps_, Vlad mused, _if he is strong enough… I could always use more allies._

Yes! Maybe he could even help him get to Daniel. This ghost's 'age' was only four years apart from the young halfa that he had been so desperately seeking, so he could construct a plan to infiltrate him into Daniel's school and-

No.

He was getting ahead of himself. He had to follow the steps in order to get the profit, like any good business man would do. Yes, then and only then, would he get his reward.

First step: Open his file and learn. Then, manipulate him to become an ally.

* * *

It had been an hour since the guards left that Danny finally began to stir. The throbbing pain on the sensitive skin near his Adams apple was what made his wake. Of course, the bruised handprints and slices on his arms from those guards dragging him had not helped his comfort level either, but they were tolerable.

He moved his hand toward the intensely burning and stinging flesh on his neck. As his gloved hands touched the tender flesh he felt the sharp sting of protesting blisters forming around the black band that the guards had thrown on him. Danny moaned softly as he reached for his cold core to procure a thick layer of soothingly freezing frost on his hand to apply to his neck.

Sweet relief.

The young half ghost groaned as he pushed himself up from his awkward position in the floor, and was confused before he realized where he was. He was not in his comfy bed at the Tower, or his small springboard mattress at the Fenton house, but he was on a cold, concrete floor in Vlad Master's Mansion.

Danny sighed. This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. He was supposed to be helping Clockwork with his missions, and getting rid of evil. That means, _**NOT **_sitting in Vlad's basement as a prisoner. But… It couldn't be helped now. He made his decision: Clockwork was going to live, no matter what. He was family, after all.

The _**only **_family Danny had, in fact. The young half ghost had long ago been rid of by his 'friends' when they no longer could tolerate his ghost hunting and secrets. Then, once Sam and Tucker had told his 'parents' his secret, all hell had broken loose. The Fenton adults dissected him without a second thought, and threw him into the Ghost Zone when he was no longer needed. They didn't care about him anymore.

But Clockwork did. The Time Master had on multiple occasions told him this as they spoke of his former family. He had told Danny that he had thought of him as his son, in all but blood. He loved him like one, too. And to have his surrogate father taken away so quickly… It left a pain and emptiness that dulled the halfa's once vibrant eyes to a faint glow.

All of the happy times in the four years they had spent together, fixing the time stream or merely playing chess, seemed to fizzle out as if they were never real. It was as if he had never fled to Clockwork's…

But this was a very unwanted blast from the past.

He felt like it was just another one of Vlad's kidnapping. Only… Danny was there voluntarily, and without any back-up or support. The only people who knew he was at the mansion were enemies, and the few allies he had seen on the way had no way of knowing that the guards would have led him here.

What he would give for just _**one**_ more day of normalcy in the small Clock Tower… One more day of escape! If only he could just-

"Good afternoon," A fake cheery voice rebounded across the lab. The person seemed to have the gracefulness of a prowling cheetah when he walked, bounding across the concrete floor. This grace left no question to who it was… Vlad had come back. "I don't believe I introduced myself very well yesterday. I am Vla-"

A guttural, curt response cut through the older man's voice. "I know who you are." Danny barely moved, only to pick himself up to a straighter sitting position against the wall and stare at the opposite slab of concrete. It was obvious what Vlad was trying to do: he wanted to collect him into his brand of minions, and/or figure out how strong he was and exploit him for it. It was classic Vlad, but just because Danny knew of the plan, doesn't mean that he was going to let it roll into place. He didn't want Vlad out to get him again. That _**never **_did bode well.

And he had secrets now… Dangerous secrets. If Vlad ever found out that he was a Time Apprentice or that he was Danny or that he is a d- Well… You know.

If Vlad ever found out… Danny shuddered slightly at the thought. He could make his and all of the occupants of the Ghost Zone lives miserable.

His short reply never fazed Vlad, though. The man continued, "Well that makes one of us. I have yet to find your name in this file I was given. May I ask your nam-"

Again, Danny cut him off, if only to irk his former archenemy –which it did. "I have many names, many of which are not used in polite conversation or around young children."

Vlad raised an eyebrow at the attempt at what Daniel would call 'witty banter'. Normally ghosts were advertising their names as if they were Billy Mays, like the Box Ghost or Ember. Yet, this convict seemed to care less about Vlad, the world, or anything at the moment. The cloaked figure simply stared past him at the wall, eyes boring into it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

But Vlad wasn't going down without a fight. There was absolutely no personal information in that file, and the older half ghost knew that he could get something out of the prisoner. "Let me rephrase the question. What are you call-"

Danny smirked as he cut him off for the third time. "I knew what you meant, Vladimir." A mischievous glint formed in his strongly colored irises. "However, do you want me to call you Vlad, or should I call you something else?" He continued on, after letting no room to answer the rhetorical question. "Because, you see, an odd nickname has been going around the Ghost Zone. I believe it was 'Fruitloop'."

Suddenly, happy joke around Vlad checked out of the room.

"You," a furious voice said as a man daintily stepped toward Danny like Death himself. "Let us get some items straightened out, shall we?"

The billionaire stuck up his nose pompously in the dark lab of a basement, and floated until he was directly in front of Danny's face. He was so close that the red glow came that from Vlad's Plasmius form almost blinded him. The closeness made the young hybrid uneasy as he pulled his hood anxiously to double-check that he had his entire face covered. He only left a small gap for his eyes to look out of now.

Vlad, being oblivious to the hybrid's anxiety, went on. "I have some rules that you _**must**_ follow." This made Danny snort inwardly. He would never follow Vlad's rules in a million years! "First, you will remain in the lab until further notice. Should you move from this room at any time, you shall deeply regret doing so."

Danny looked at the hand cuffs that attached him to a pole, and raised an eyebrow from under his cloak. How exactly was he going to move _**anywhere?**_

"Next, you will treat me and my staff with the utmost respect, and you will not under any circumstances taunt anyone in this house about their mental health or about therapeutic sessions." Danny couldn't suppress a small snicker this time. Before he had left, the young hybrid had made fun of Vlad at every turn about his craziness and fruitloopiness. It was slightly pathetic that Vlad would even make a rule about it now.

But a rule he had made, and apparently whilst Danny had been musing, Vlad had drawled on and on about these rules before he hit one that really ticked Danny off.

It was that Danny had to show Vlad who he was, and lower his hood.

"No," was Danny's stern reply. His stone cold face showed no le-way on this matter –not that you could see it- but Vlad was persistent. He responded with an equally stern, "Yes," and Danny had ended up swatting the man's hand away to keep his identity secret, much to the anger of his bruised arms.

Could you imagine if Vlad did find out? The man would be ecstatic. He would jump for joy at the prospect of having his perfect son in his grasp, and Danny had a pretty good idea of what that meant for him: Pain, suffering, and loss. And the child had experienced far too many of those emotions at the present time for his liking, so Danny rather _not _tell his captor. Maybe mess with him, but not tell him.

Another go for his cloak jolted Danny back as he slapped Vlad's hand away, and the apprentice felt his patience snap.

A black shadow shot from his fingertips and made a beeline for the forehead of his archenemy. Vlad raised his own hand as a shield as pink as a newborn piglet sprung jovially from his hand, only to be ignored as the shadow tendrils floated right through it. The man stumbled backward when blackness then encased his face in a moving smoke-like screen, blinding him. Only the sharp beams of ectoplasm that zipped past the halfa's corneas could penetrate the darkness that had shut down his vision. Shadows whittled away to nothing, and a short gasp threatened to escape Vlad's lips. He had never felt such power before! It was as if someone had harnessed the darkness itself….

Little did Vlad know that the ecto beams had done nothing, that Danny had called off his shadows himself.

"Now, _**Vladimir**_," he growled as his eyes lit up in frustration. He had dealt with this stupid enemy for too long, and enough was enough, "you listen, and listen well. This is going to be hell for both of us either way, so stay out of my business and I will stay out of yours or you will have a powerful enemy. We clear?"

Vlad, surprisingly, was affected by the crazed tone of Danny's. He narrowed his eyes and bit back, "I do _**not**_ take orders from you, convict. Your threats don't scare me."

"They should." Was the reply he got back, full of malice from the weakened prisoner on the ground before Danny shrugged, figuring he would give into Vlad a little, if only for some peace and quiet. So he answered his almost forgotten question. "My name," He paused before biting his lip, "has been forgotten by most to the centuries." Danny hissed, "So the Ghost Zone inhabitants made one up for me. They call me the Demon of Shadows or the Apprentice, but you may call me Scaeth."

Danny nodded, as if he needed to confirm it with himself. He hadn't used that name since Clockwork suggested it four years ago, but he had waved the name away, saying it was awfully dark for him. But as the events turned… He thought it fit now… All too well.

Now, Vlad –who had been half way up the stairs at this time- stopped in his tracks and blinked a few times before a tinge of victory filled his blue eyes.

While it wasn't much, Vlad knew just by the title that the Ghost Zone's ghosts had given this Scaeth that they must have feared him. A smile graced his lips as he continued up the stairs.

An influential _**and**_ powerful ally… He could use one of those.

* * *

_So what do you think? Good? Bad? Am I improving? Sorry about that late updates, by the way. My computer hates me.._

_kirby_


	7. Somethin' Evil's Lurking in the Dark

I don't own Danny Phantom.

I'm Inevitable

Chapter 5: Thriller Night

_It's close to midnight, and **something evil's lurking in the dark**.__  
__Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart.__  
__You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it.__  
__You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,__  
__You're paralyzed.__'Cause this is thriller, thriller night__  
__And no one's gonna save you from the **beast about strike**.__  
__You know it's thriller, thriller night.__  
__**You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight.**_

_**~Thriller **__Michael Jackson_

* * *

Danny ran his tired fingers through his sweat covered locks of raven down hair as he took the inventory of damage inflicted to his lean figure. He hadn't wanted to see if he looked as bad as he felt, but he needed to get himself back on his feet, so to speak.

Observation Number One: Intense throbbing head as well as an overall crap feeling.

Observation Number Two: Heavy bruising of chest (where black blast from Ancient guard hit), shoulders and arms, and neck.

He sighed; nothing could be done about his bruises, except to let them heal… Great. Danny groaned at the purple and blue medley on his chest that was almost as grotesque as his immense scarring.

But those bruises were going to be painful.

Observation Number Three: Neck seems to have burns that are really, really bad- not that he could see it, or anything, but they felt… awful. It was like untreated beach sunburn with hot grease spilled over it. They were probably third degree burns too, which was _**not**_ helping him heal at all.

Danny simply reapplied the thick layer of soothing frost to his burns, knowing it was all he could without asking Vlad for help. And frankly, that was never going to happen.

Observation Number Four: He was really, really dizzy when attempting to stand up.

Not going to try that again.

Observation Number Five: Heart wrenching homesickness… and worry.

He distracted himself from that one, refusing to break down in any way or start bawling randomly. He wasn't going to give the Ancients, Vlad, or anyone the satisfaction of hearing him snap into a spineless heap.

And speaking of spineless, Danny found it very odd that those cowardly Ancient guards hadn't tried to torture him more than what they had done. Well, besides ripping him from all he held dear….

Well it could be worse... Sort of...

But now that he thought about it, the rest of the first day of prison wasn't all it was held up to be anyway. Danny pictured Vlad casting snide remarks as the Ancients pummeled him to a puree, and he pictured something horrible to happen to have his day plummet. In reality, however, Vlad hadn't stepped foot in the basement, nor the Ancients via the Zone. It was as if the universe decided to screw someone else over instead of him!

"Good evening."

_Speak of the devil, _Danny thought with heavy irony. A silent groan resonated through his head as he fought to keep himself from doing a face palm. This was just his freaking luck…

The quiet halfa raised his shrouded head warily as his glowing electric eyes pierced Vlad's navy orbs. Slipping on a mask of calm, he responded coolly with a short nod of recognition, "Vladimir."

He watched as the older man glided over to him clad in the vampire-like ghost form of his. The billionaire had a strange expression on his face, one of, perhaps, greed. Danny groaned mentally at this. A hungry for money, power, or anything Vlad else was always dangers associated to it like a pair of Siamese twins. It just was a bad emotion to see on Vlad's face…. And he had a sinking feeling building up in his throat that told him that Vlad was greedy for _**him**_.

Actually, he was going to ignore how _**wrong**_ that sounded.

The silver haired man had an obviously fake grin plastered onto his face when he knelt down to the still weak, seated Danny. Vlad grinned wider as he spoke. "Hello my dear boy," a flinch from Danny, "I had hoped to speak with you in greater detail about these arrangements. Are you -"

Danny clenched his fists angrily to keep himself from doing something he would regret. This was testing his patience to no end! "Just talk to the Ancients, all right?" He interrupted with a frustrated tone to his granulated, sore voice. "I have no idea what will be going on, so don't bother talking to me about it. I tend to not like to waste _**Time, **_that's the Ancients' job. Their stupidity tends to waste my precious seconds more than others."

_**SMASH!**_

"WHAT DID YOU SAY FILTH?"

Danny jolted at the loud noise, holding in a yell. Beakers and bubbling test tubes flew across the room as a new Ancient guard (When had he come in?) slid over an operation table only to land right beside Danny. He felt his eyes widen when Vlad jumped back in surprise as the guard grabbed the young Apprentice's throat.

The muscular guard roared, "HOW DARE YOU!" He squeezed the raw, burnt neck and listened when Danny let out a scream of a banshee. The hooded teen threw his head back, desperately trying to dislodge the guard's calloused grip from his furious burns. The Ancient then took out a taser from his back pocket and maliciously stung Danny with it like an electric line had fallen on the young apprentice, before the guard threw it to the ground as Danny screeched. Punches infused with ectoplasm bolts then attacked the teen's severely bruised chest, causing a symphony of cracks to echo through the lab along with hoarse rasping of air.

And something heavily emotionally stressed besides Danny's ribs seemed to snap. Was it his patience? His fear? His pain tolerance? No one knew, but the results… The only word to describe it could be… Actually there are no words. Right here and there,

Danny was even cooler than Chuck Norris.

He wriggled out of the guard's grasp, took two steps backward to stand up straight, and stared at the Ancient with crazed crimson eyes. All of the pain dissipated under the adrenaline.

"Let's play a little _game_, shall we?" Danny snickered with a mad look in his scarlet orbs. His voice had obtained a darker and darker quality as he spoke. It was as if a festering parasiet was squelching the pleasant and wise nature of the Time Apprentice.

The Ancient snorted in laughter, but there was no mistaking the pleased hunger in his eyes. He wanted to know if the prisoner was speaking of what he thought he was. He had heard rumors, albeit terrible, but rumors of the side of the the young apprentice of Clockwork's that could destroy, no... **_obliterate_** souls. Strangely enough, there was not any ghost that had a first hand account of being attacked by the Demon of Shadows himself. The guard knew it was all bark and no bite. Shrugging casually, he crossed his muscular arms with arrogance as he said knowingly, "What kind of game?"

Danny seemed to stand a little straighter as his intelligent crimson eyes looked demonically back at him. "What else, but a Game of the Demons? It is what I am famous for after all." The Apprentice smirked in pride as he continued, "The rules are simple, as you know. In this Game, _**souls**_ are at stake."

A nod in understanding from and cruel humor his opponent followed. "I accept your challenge." The Ancient had a looked ecstatic, most likely because he could score some _**epic**_ brownie points with the Head Ancient if he had The Demon of Shadows' soul.

The Demon's black aura seemed to augment to a prodigious size at the Ancient's acceptance to the Game. The powerful, glowing aura around his form seemed to fidget. The shadow urged for a soul. "Demon Games are quite simple." Danny elaborated with a cunning fox-like smile glued to his face. "They judge a true creature's character and test it. The outcome is determined by the person's ability (or inability) to pass this test. Then the victor will pose a consequence whether it is the loss of a soul to something like eternal torture."

"For this Game in particular," the Demon of Shadows continued with a maniac glint in his eyes and a mad grin, "there is a bomb waiting to go off that will waste _**even**_ an Ancient. If you diffuse it before it goes off, you win." Crimson eyes glowed as a dark tone overcame Danny's voice.

"Game start."

The Ancient flew into action, bolting up and down, right and left around the lab, searching for a hazard. He started at the tidy part of the lab that had been to the left of the Ghost Zone. This was where Danny knew Vlad to keep dangerous exploding materials.

A logical place to start.

However, upon seeing everything packaged properly with nothing to ignite the materials he continued on.

"Tick tock, tick tock." The Demon crooned in a sing-song voice, "When will the bomb detonate? Two minutes? Two hours?"

Five minutes went by as panic was beginning to set in as the Ancient guard hastily scanned the other side of the room, where he had come in from the Ghost Zone. The place was a wreck. Test tubes full of mystery liquids spilt all over the floor, cabinets, and tables. There was a big puddle of water on the floor that he had looked to have written off of the important list, probably because water isn't flammable. However, there were a few Bunsen burners that were also turned on.

He's getting closer and yet so far away.

A triumphant grin slipped onto the Ancient's face as he ran over to a lit Bunsen burner that had fallen nearly onto an ecto filtrator. The filtrator was boiling at the heat. "Ha!" The Ancient pumped his fist as he stood the burner upright and switched it off. "I win! Give me your soul, little Apprentice! You've lost!"

The Demon raised his eyebrows with a lopsided smirk. He had not enjoyed a game like this in a good while… "Are you sure? Perhaps you should take a look at you feet."

The guard's eyes shot to the concrete floor, looking for anything at all that could be- "Oh shi-"

"That's right." The Demon said cockily as he gestured to the liquid pooling at the Ancient's feet. That liquid he was standing in was spilled upon his entrance today as well as that taser. That thing had _**just enough**_ energy left to continue vibrating toward the chemical puddle as it was producing the sparks. He had walked right into _**his own**_ hand-made death trap. The Ancient's gray orbs widened in terror as Danny grinned at him. But then, the Ancient looked at the sparks from the taser with a sadistic smile.

The Ancient guard smirked as he pulled out a pretty random glowing hand gun from his tasseled robe pocket and raised it to his competitor. With a smug expression on his face, the guard raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What now?"

But the Demon didn't even look at the gun. "Are you sure," the shadowy convict hissed, "you want to do that?"

A loud ethereally booming shot was his only answer as Scaeth's mind ran a mile a minute. Within a span of half a second, he was ducking the purple blast that was inches from his hooded face, and the Demon even set an ice shard into the barrel of the gun and spun back to the guard.

Then time seemed to stand still.

The dark figure of the Demon of Shadows stood straight up with the perfect posture of dignity, poise, and pure danger. The black aura surrounding the Demon of Shadows pulsated and glowed the essence of what his _**prey **_felt… fear. Eyes, now changed from the scary crimson to blood freezing white, bored into the section between the guard's eyes.

With a voice more present than the shot, the Demon affixed a fierce glare to the guard before growling out in a dark, echoing voice,

"You have cheated, you will serve the penalty."

The white untainted orbs gored into the shuddering Ancient's as if he were searching the guard's very soul.

The Ancient gazed with glazed eyes at the Demon of Shadows and let out a string of curse words and other profanity topped off with, "You'll pay for this! PAY!"

The taser sparks reached the water before the Ancient could run. After all, there was nowhere to run from the Demon that radiated with dark power in the night. There was no running… No hiding… and there was no safety, for of all the things that go bump in the night… The Demon of Shadows is the most terrifying. So as the wraithlike eyes crept upon the Ancients, the guard whimpered. All of the rumors, narratives, he had heard of the Demon's Games were true. Every horror story of the demonic hunter stalking his prey, backing ghosts up into the Game and killing their souls... They were true.

The last thing the insignificant Ancient guard heard was the laughter and a dark baritone voice yelling over his screams,

"The door of darkness has been opened!"

* * *

_**First of all, I do not own The Game of the Demons. I own the name, but the Game itself is actually from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga and it's called something in Japanese or the Shadow Games. *Grins*. I loved the idea of the playing for your soul thing and Danny basically- *Shuts self up*. Sorry, can't ruin the next chapter!**_

_**Oh, and for the record... Packers won the Superbowl for those of you who don't know. **_

_**Vlad's having a field day as the older half ghost is a Cheesehead himself. **_

_**Hehe...**_

_**Oh, and PLEASE review! I really want to know how you guys view this as it gets more and more interesting and into the plot. And I also apologize for the lengthy wait... This chapter was one that would alter the rest of the story if I missed a detail.**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**kirby**_


	8. Curious Curious

_**I don't own Danny Phantom. **_

* * *

_"Curious... curious..." _

_"Sorry," Harry said, "but **what's** curious?"_

_Mr. Olivander fixed Harry with his pale stare._

_Harry swallowed._

_**~Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone **_

* * *

Vlad looked with wide eyes as the Ancient fizzled out into a puddle of molten ectoplasm on the floor. Sizzling liquid bubbled as he stared at the product of raw energy before him, and his head was whirring with theories on the holder of this power, Scaeth. Although, any normal person would be completely terrified to be in the same room as someone who had just committed murder.

Except Vlad. He was fairly impressed, in fact.

What were the odds that a super powerful entity was put in his hands for **_free_**? Oh, this was just too good to be true! With this ally at his side he could have anything he could ever want, need, or hope to have! With this 'Demon of Shadows'… the world was his oyster, and his oyster always contains a pearl.

Now all he needed to do was get this 'Demon', Scaeth, to cooperate… But how to do it? He knew absolutely nothing about this Demon of Shadows! It wasn't as if he could just ask him about his past, his personality, or his power! No… This being's sheer power is too much like an Ancient to simply ask him about it. Vlad knew that he must be cunning to go about this… He must get to know the convict sitting in his lab, be nice to him to gain his **_trust_**.

And speaking of trust… Vlad made a mental note to be cautious in handing out his trust to this 'Demon'. Whatever this door of darkness was, he wanted to know about it, but not be in it! Come to think about it, he definitely wanted to observe a few of those Games of Demons, since it seemed to be a factor in the release of his power. If that could be harnessed….

And if those Games could waste an **_Ancient_**… Vlad would need to get **_that_** little power.

Then suddenly a groan of pain echoed across the lab, followed by a low gasp. Vlad spun around at the noise before watching Scaeth's legs give out from under him. The dark figure seemed to fall in slow motion as he collapsed on the cold, hard floor before the dark aura around his body flickered before dimming back to what it had been before the Game.

Cautiously treading toward the limp figure of Scaeth on the floor, Vlad eyed the rising and falling of the slim creature's chest. Why would a ghost need to breathe? He knew that some did just as a reflex that had been drilled into them during their human years; however, this creature did not look as if he had been a human at any point. No, he was much too powerful to have been a human, perhaps this lone entity on his floor was a spirit like most of the Ancients-

Oh God… Was Scaeth a hybrid like he and Daniel? The billionaire looked hungrily upon the possibility.

A maddened grin spread across Vlad's face as he placed two lanky fingers on the limp figure's neck. He waited a moment, closing his eyes in concentration as he focused on the clammy skin before he felt a sharp jolt of an ice cold… heartbeat? Only… there was no thudding _bump bump_ of blood flow, no motion to be felt. It was just a cold burst that seemed to fill the jugular artery in the synchronized beat of a heart, mimicking it.

Vlad let out a strangled gasp like an unholy man touched by an ethereal glow. Wrenching his hand back, the hybrid rubbed his own neck thoughtfully and (not that he would ever admit it) slightly startled.

"Curious," he murmured.

However, Vlad then shook his head as he mentally put it to the back of his mind. He couldn't dwell on other facts yet; the billionaire needed to figure out where in God's name he was going to put the prisoner as he very well couldn't leave a powerful being in a basement filled with dangerous combustible chemicals and radioactive material…. That would not be a valid option….

So he needed to get him a bedroom, a larger one maybe with darker walls to fit the convict's melancholy personality. Yes, he would give Scaeth some freedom, and maybe even a little bit of luxury.

But then the plan begins.

* * *

_**Short, I know... But soon the fun begins...**_

**_Anywho, thank you all for your reviews! (Big thank you to deadlydaisy8o8 for an extremly epic analysis/review. I really appreciated it and dedicate this chapter to you!)_**

**_Please let me know what you think. And predictions are always nice too. It's kind of cool to see what you guys are thinking that this will come out to. :) I've dropped you guys some clues, since I'm very deliberate with what I write._**

**_Thank you all and I will get the next chapter up soon. _**

**_kirby_**


	9. I Walk Alone

_I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the songs used before the fic._

**_I'm Inevitable: __Chapter 9_**

**_Boulevard of Broken Dreams_**

_I walk this empty street,_

_On the boulevard of broken dreams._

_Where the city sleeps, _

_And I'm the only one and I walk alone._

_**~Green Day**_

* * *

Vladimir Masters couldn't help but take advantage of certain moments; after all he's no saint. Let's face it; the eldest hybrid couldn't resist a really good opportunity when one came along.

That being said, it should come as no surprise at all when Vladimir Masters had the _**oh so brilliant**_ idea to move the dangerous creature in the basement up four flights of stairs to one of the several extra bedrooms. He knelt down to take the rag doll like figure into his arms roughly. Standing up, Vlad hoisted the extremely light Scaeth up into a bridal style carry, and started up the silent stairs that seemed to have absolutely no squeaks. (And no, contrary to popular opinion he, the insanely rich billionaire did not even have a _**simple stretcher**_ to transport the Demon.)

As he clambered up the staircase to the first floor, the billionaire couldn't help but examine the exhausted hooded form in his arms.

A dramatic cloak flowed seamlessly over what must have been a skinny figure going by the lack of weight that the creature in his arms had. The tough silk like material ended just past Scaeth's knee caps, flaring slightly as it stopped only to leave what looked like black jeans and stark black converse. His arms were covered with the cloak's long sleeves, although they revealed slight muscles underneath. Scaeth's hands were the only pieces of flesh uncovered. They were more scarred and paler than any human or halfa's hands he had ever seen, (in fact they were borderline translucent) however, they were not the common green tinge that all ghosts held. If anything, they had a blue imbedded in the pigment. But his face… Still shrouded in the hood he had clung to like a nervous child with only a few strands of ebony hair flowing out, Vlad could see nothing but a thick band around his neck emblazed with a scarlet, blood red "A" that looked to be painted over a carved "GT" in the metal.

Shaking his head contemplatively, Vlad nudged the door of a spare bedroom open with his shoulder into the navy blue room with a black king sized bed completed with black furniture. The gray haired man set the unconscious form on the black comforter.

His eyes drifted back to that infernal black hood. His finger tips grazed the slightly frayed brim of the silk, smirking slightly. Scaeth would never know that he had lifted his hood… He slowly raised the brim of the hood until it was over Scaeth's rustled black hair.

Blinking in surprise, the billionaire gazed at the pallid countenance of the youth in front of him-

"I believe I told you not to touch that, Vladimir."

Vlad jumped back at the wry tone, holding a gasp between his teeth as he saw the closed eyes of the Demon of Shadows open to reveal shockingly blue eyes that glowed even more than Daniel's had. He hadn't realized he had woken up…

Rolling past the mortification of being caught Vlad echoed back, "Hello, my good fellow! Had a pleasant nap?"

It was captivating seeing the youth's expression. His face was young, really young compared to what Vlad pictured… The softly crafted slightly discolored skin looked like it had been stretched to fit the child's bone structure as a molder pulls elastic latex over a sculpture. The powerful being he had seen earlier didn't seem to add up to this youthful teenage face, except for the scars that littered his countenance. In each line of white body tissue that streaked across the young one's face, Vlad saw less of a child and more of a tortured soul. The largest scar was down his left eye and onto his cheek, leaving the remnants of a sealed gash on his crystalline iris, it looked to be extremely old and very well healed. Then, there were the bruises. Marring Scaeth's right cheekbone and lower jaw were newly made purple globs of broken blood cells struggling to repair the weak body. They in the shape of knuckles and the myriad of bruises continued down to below the neckline of the cloak, standing out in stark contrast against the all too paled blue tinged flesh.

Scaeth looked at him, ignoring his question with a raised eyebrow now as Vlad continued to take note of his facial features, as if the billionaire was supposed to be realizing something extremely important. However, after a few minutes the teen just shook his head with a slight smirk on his face, and he was all but bursting at the seams with his irony filled laughter.

The billionaire's furrowed and he felt somewhat lost as he pondered aloud, "Is there something wrong?"

The smirk on the Demon's face just grew. He murmured with his guttural, hurt vocal chords, "No, Vladimir. Just found something extremely funny. Don't worry about it."

Vlad nodded, shaking off the urge to argue to force himself to be polite. He sat on the edge of the bed for awhile, looking casually around the room in an attempt to get Scaeth to start the conversation. To his surprise it worked.

With a choppy, hoarse voice the shadowy youth rasped out, "All right, you have questions." Sighing in resignation, Scaeth bit his lip. "Ask them before your jumping around the awkward silence makes you break something."

Letting out a small chuckle at the convict's blunt display, Vlad studied his mind. What question to ask? He didn't want to offend him or give him reason to be angry. (But frankly he was still astonished that Scaeth had let him take off his hood without trying to reduce him to a puddle of goo. Trying, there being the key word.)

Finally deciding on something mundane the halfa asked with a polite smile on his face, "How old are you?"

An immediate answer was thrown carelessly back at Vlad. "I will be three hundred and seventeen years old on my next birthday."

Now that had thrown him for a moment, but as he thought about it… Spirits do live an awfully long time.

"Kidding, oh so intelligent one." Rolling his diamond, ice shard like eyes, Scaeth smirked and all knowing smirk that made the tender scars distort on the child's face. Vlad wasn't so sure if it was the grotesque scars or just the other worldly vibe the smirk gave off that made involuntary chills crawl up his spine. Continuing, the Demon said like he was calmly discussing the weather, "I'm eighteen."

Eighteen? Perhaps that was the age in which he died, but there was no way that the Demon in front of him was eighteen years old. There were too many scars, too much seriousness, and too much maturity.

He needed clarification… "No, I mean your actual age if you kept counting past time of death."

A blunt response and a raised eyebrow proceeded. "Seriously, I'm eighteen."

Gaping slightly, Vlad just stared at Scaeth's worn features that kept an almost sinisterly regal appearance, nodding his head. Eighteen? He supposed he could see it past the scarring; however, he had to look awhile to get past those maims. And he did most certainly _**not**_ shiver in horror as he tried to picture the event that may have caused those gashes to the child.

The clearing of a throat sent him back to the conversation he had been holding as he looked at Scaeth who gestured for him to continue questioning him. Actually, it was more of a resigned 'ask whatever the heck you want because I don't care' look.

However, that is beside the point.

Suddenly slightly confidant, Vlad asked a slightly more personal question although it still did not have much rooted in the child's past (or so he hoped), "What exactly is around your neck? I gathered that it is some type of shock collar-"

And suddenly every expression of humor vanished from the Demon of Shadows' face as he seemed even more pallid. Answering the question with a flat tone of apathy with a hint of disdain he ground out with his sore vocal chords, "Ancient Guard grade shock collar that is lovingly referred to as Ol' Blister, but was formally known as the Ghoster Toaster. It was originally invented by Madeline and Jack F-fenton." The end of his speech was taken with a tone of sheer malice and a biting bitterness that seemed to span farther than the simple invention. Although, the billionaire _**did**_ shirk back unconsciously from the raw anger pulsing from the teenager in front of him.

"How do you know Madeline invented it?" This was simply out of curiosity. Did Scaeth have his own set of spies inside the Fenton residence as well? Vlad could barely hold back a grin as he imagined Daniel's face if the young hybrid would ever discover how many ghosts were keeping tabs on his family.

However, the dry reply that was returned with an eye roll was, "Ghoster Toaster. It doesn't get more Fenton than that."

Surprisingly enjoying the conversation now, the corners of his skinny lips curled up as Vlad humorously said, "Very true… The names are a bit lacking… Then again, I suppose Jack is responsible for that particular issue."

Suddenly, Scaeth seemed very uncomfortable with the conversation and Vlad could have sworn he saw one of the teen's eyelids twitch. Wringing his hands again, frosty orbs full of almost completely masked uncertainty looked at the billionaire as he murmured hoarsely, "I'll give you one more question."

The change of mood startled the hybrid a bit, but Vlad –always the strategist- was deep in thought. He needed to ask a more personal question, however, he couldn't go overboard with a emotional spinning question. It could potentially ruin his little relationship with the convict.

Making his decision, the elder hybrid looked into the never ending crystal void that was Scaeth's eyes and asked, "What is your role in the Ghost Zone?"

Silence.

Vlad saw an uncontrolled violent tremor strike the Demon of Shadows, the child's pale fingers trembling. Scaeth took a shaking breath as he pulled his silken shield of a hood above his head to mask his countenance yet again.

Not expecting an answer as the teenager drew into himself, the billionaire turned from the teenager to walk out of the room before he heard a clear, albeit hoarse, voice ring softly throughout the cavernous room.

"I protected them. I tried."

Bewildered, Vlad spun back to Scaeth and immediately called back softly, "They are ghosts. They don't need protection."

"Everyone deserves to have someone protect them, Vlad."

Silence again deafened him.

The elder half ghost just nodded his head in full concentration as he looked at the child with questioning eyes and he knew.

_**He was missing something**_, something drastically important if anything could be judged by the longing in that sentiment.

The child was an extremely morally rooted eighteen year old, he was convicted by Ancients, has most likely a few allies in the Ghost Zone, is capable of immense power surges, eccentric body functions like the odd 'pulse' of cold without the familiar 'lub dub' of a heartbeat, and…. What was he missing?

Resting his hand thoughtfully on his chin, Vlad just stared at his new hooded specimen with an intensity that couldn't be rivaled even by the Head Ancient. Furrowed eyebrows met as the billionaire's train of thought continued on a track, completely unaware of the extremely uncomfortable Scaeth that was wringing his hands on the other side of his probing eyes.

_What am I not seeing? _The elder man screamed mentally, _Something about this Scaeth is so familiar... __I know what it is that I am thinking of, but I just cannot put my finger on it-_

Oh. _**Oh. Oh!**_

A devilish smirk spread across Vladimir Master's features when he felt his light bulb moment erupt. And he let out an involuntary chuckle.

He had never expected _**this**_.

* * *

_**Hehehehe... Yeah, I totally left it there.**_

_**Sorry. :D **_

_**Oh, and now I suppose that Vladdie isn't so clueless now, or is he? **_

_**I don't know, what do you guys think? Did you like it, hate it, love it? Was it a good cliff hanger? What did you guys think of the characters? **_

_**I really appreciate your opinions and feel free to guess where this story is going plot wise. It's really fun to see where people think I'm leading them.**_

_**Thank you all so much for reading!**_

_**kirby**_


	10. Cabbage Wit

I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the songs/quotes used before the fic.

_The cabbage is a familiar kitchen garden vegetable _

_About __as large and as wise as a man's head._

_ ** -Ambrose Bierce**_

* * *

There is a certain feeling –a vibe if you will- that people in general get when someone else does something incredibly and undisputedly… creepy. Take Vlad for example, the man is long, skinny, middle aged with a cat, and he experiments on little boys (clone incident) in his basement. Oh, and he basically stares at you like you are a specimen under a microscope with the intent of picking apart your unread life story and your weaknesses, from the way you hate sandwich crust to the fatal allergies and phobias incased in your delicate psyche.

It was a freaky experience, and from what Danny had been through, that is saying something.

It was like Vlad had been slowly easing up to personal questions as if he was worried that he may not answer them or get angry and lash out at the older man. He hadn't _**scared**_ Vlad… Had he? Danny knew that his Games were not exactly fun to watch, but it was not enough to make Vlad _**cautious**_, was it? The feeling of Vlad being anxious of him suddenly sent a sick feeling into the pit of Danny's stomach. How far from the pure, innocent Danny Fenton had he gone if Vlad, the embodiment of sick and twisted, was frightened of him? How long will it be before he is so deranged that the Head Ancient is scared of him?

A shudder sluggishly meandered through his lithe frame at the thought, although it could have been contributed to by the laser focused stare burning into his skull being abruptly changing into a smirk that was so Vlad, it should have been illegal.

"What?" The teen asked questionably with a hint of anticipation in his voice. It was never good when the rich half ghost smirked; it was like dropping a bag of high explosives on LOST. It never ended well and often had an ironic twist. However, Vlad just beamed and lit up like a match (destructive properties optional). His smirk was now a full on creepy grin as he looked at where Danny's eyes would be if the hood was not there.

Now, at this point, Danny would have loved to say how calm, cool and/or collected he was when facing a smiling Vlad, however, that would have been a lie. With hands shaking with unstoppable tremors, the teen tried in vain to take less shaky breaths to try in desperation to get the unreliable vibrato put of his already insecure voice.

He knew Vlad had figured it out, that he was the child he had stalked, become arch enemies with, spied on, and tried to mentor all at the same time.

The tremors moved up to a violent level at this, threatening for his arms to have uncontrollable muscle spasms at the mere prospect at having to cope with his old life again. Danny honestly did not know if he could handle the old enemies, the old lack of real friends, or the absence of family again; although, if anything could be found from his trembling body, he _**couldn't**_ handle it.

What he _**could**_ handle was protecting the ghosts of the Ghost Zone and training with Clockwork, his mentor, his friend, his family, and his savior. Even throw in all of the politics with the Observants and Ancients and the young man could still keep grips on reality and maintain control.

Sighing with a shallow breath (his midsection still hurt like hell), Danny leant his head against the metal headboard behind him and closed his weary eyes. It felt like all he had recovered, worked for, and loved had been stolen from him, and frankly… he felt like Prometheus after he had been eaten alive by vultures- broken, but the world wouldn't let him just die already.

It was tragic if you really thought about it.

"I know who you are."

Arched eyebrows rose on Danny's face as he turned his thumping head to face the elder half ghost again. His former archenemy had that all knowing smirk lying on his dapper features along with the suit Danny could always remember him wearing with the cheesy little red bowtie. As he looked at Vlad, he felt so much nostalgia working its way into his brain. And with a jolt he realized…

Nothing had changed, at all.

Sure, Danny had known that the Ancients would set him in the human time- a mere two weeks after he had left compared to the four years he had experienced; however, he couldn't help feel a familiar surge of familiarity, like a lost cat after it had found its way back home.

He supposed, now that he thought about it, that with the Clock Tower off limits and the Fenton household no longer a wanted option… That Vlad was his last tie to his days as… Just Danny, not Danny Fenton (Vlad hated Jack, why would he ever use Jack's name?), not a powerful entity… He was just Danny. (Well, technically it was just Daniel, but whatever.)

And he was honestly surprised that he missed it.

Danny swept his hood back to his shoulders as he replied so he could look Vlad square in the eye, "Yeah, I know." There was a slight resignation in his voice now, "I think inside, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from you."

The teen watched with a slight wince as he watched the graying man's ego grow to a prodigious size that never seemed to bode well for anyone. Vlad grinned ruthlessly before saying with a slight bravado in his voice, "Well, you did make it quite obvious. After all," the elder half ghost boasted, "you gave me so much information to use. The strange powers, the irregular pulsing in exchange for a heartbeat, the glares you give the guards that show you are a thousand times more powerful than them, and the fact that nobody has told me why you are actually here.

"It took me awhile," Vlad admitted, "much longer than it should have, however, I have cracked the code. You, Scaeth, are an Ancient spying on me!"

Well…

That was about the stupidest thing he had ever heard. The accused just stared at Vlad for a moment, opening and closing his mouth to release a cleverly worded taunt or a nicely worded insult, but nothing came out except, "You have _**got**_ to be kidding me."

"Of course not!"

An Ancient, an Ancient spy.

Wow.

You know, Vlad was a college graduate, a business typhoon, a powerful half ghost, a middle aged man, a billionaire, a genius with strategy, a ruthless villain, and a crazy amazing geneticist (if anything could be seen from the cloning incident).

And that was what he came up with?

For the first time since before the trial with Clockwork, Danny found himself smiling at the man's stupidity with a great genuine smile at the half ghost. Shaking his head, the teen could help but add with a fond, but still nostalgic look in his eyes as he looked at the man. Feeling an urge to just screw all the secrets he had and dump them on Vlad almost overwhelmed his common sense, but Danny thought against it. The teenager found himself liking the lack of _loco parenti_ fruitloopiness coming from his former arch enemy, and he thought it would be nice for their relationship to stay that way for awhile. But… Danny couldn't fight a strange feeling in his gut that told him Vlad would not stay ignorant for long; however, Danny would cross that bridge later (hopefully _**much**_ later).

Now, what to tell Vlad?

A lie would be the easiest, but he wasn't much of a liar from what Clockw- from what people have told him. And he can't tell the elder man the _**entire**_ truth…

Filling his lungs with air (but mostly pain caused by the ribs he knew must be broken) and figuring he would just wing it, Danny looked into Vlad's eyes. "I'm not an Ancient spy. I'm not an Ancient. It is just the opposite actually, I have made an enemy out of them and they have made an enemy out of me." At this the half ghost in front of him looked abashed and slightly crestfallen at his misconception before quickly masking all emotion with a face of indifference.

Nodding contemplatively Vlad said with a contemplative voice, "I understand."

However, Danny could practically see the gears turning in the older man's head from the facts he had been presented. He wished he could stop the middle aged man's brain from working for a few moments, if only to stop conclusions from being made… No matter how outlandish they were.

"Well," Vlad clapped his hands as if he was punctuating the word and banishing the dreadful mood, "I must be getting back to cleaning the lab and-"

Danny interrupted the man as guilt rushed through him. He really shouldn't have held a Game in the lab… Not that it was _**really**_ his fault, but still… Vlad really hadn't done anything to 'Scaeth' yet to deserve a trashed lab.

Wincing slightly he said with a guilt laced tone, "Sorry about that. He- I mean… _**It's**_ hard to control sometimes. I didn't mean to basically demolish your lab."

A surprised look swam around Vlad's features as an awkward silence fell on the two of them that was thicker than pea soup. A swift nod from the elder man was the only acknowledgement Danny received before a puzzled look took over the surprise and Vlad left the room, locking it behind him.

* * *

_**So what do you think? Good? Bad? Terrible? Disappointing? Amazing?**_

_**Any predictions on what will happen next? I have been dropping hints throughout the fic so far on events to come.**_

_**And I must apologize yet again for the lateness on this chapter... I have a million excuses... But you guys probably don't want to hear them. :D**_

_**Thanks for sticking with me and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!**_

_**kirby**_


	11. Stayin' Alive

I don't own Danny Phantom.

_Stayin' Alive_

_I've been kicked around_  
_since I was born_

_And now it's all right, it's ok_  
_and you may look the other way_  
_We can try to understand_  
_The New York Times' effect on man_

_Whether you're a brother _  
_or whether you're a mother _  
_you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive_  
_Feel the city breakin _  
_and everybody shakin' _  
_and were stayin' alive, stayin' alive_  
_Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive_  
_Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive_

_~By the Bee Gees_

* * *

Have you ever felt that childlike need to just pretend to be a dog one day? Come on, admit it… You and millions of others have done it. We have all skittered around on the floor on all fours, barking, howling, putting the dog's collar around your neck, drinking from water bowls, and refusing to eat unless it was on the floor or in the dog's dish. It is just something little kids (and some adults) do.

But after the tedious restraint, Ol' Blister, had been clamped torturously around the sensitive flesh of his neck… Danny would shudder at any child wanting to be a dog, to be trapped, to be controlled… No matter how innocent the thought.

Every time he pried at the device or even just brushed it with his fingers by accident, Danny was given a sharp electrical jab of warning that made his fingers twitch violently or just tremble for the rest of the day. It was painful, sure, but it did not even compare to the feeling of utter hopelessness that pulsed through him. He was no longer _**free**_, but he was _**a prisoner**_ and he had to obey his _**master**_. It was a scary thought, really. He could be disposed of at any minute, tortured at any hour, or be psychologically disturbed any day of the week. And it was _**his**_ choice.

It was his, Danny's, choice to stick himself in harm's way again, throwing caution to the wind and chucking common sense to the nearest trash compacter. It was his choice to follow the Head Ancient's iron fisted rule as it pointed bullyingly to Vlad's house.

And yet… to save Clockwork, he felt it was totally worth it.

_Although, I hope I don't go crazy_, Danny mused darkly as he thought stutteringly of the sheer paranoia that would inhibit him for the rest of his life at Vlad's Mansion. He would never know when the Ancients would be coming to hurt him, to try and break him…

Danny sighed resignedly and tried to put the matter out of his mind and focus on something else.

Rubbing his temples, he abruptly noticed with a groan that they throbbed as the rest of his cranium pounded on mercilessly. These intense migraines were a new development to Danny's misery and seemed to intensify with light, although sound didn't seem to bother him. He cast it off to just getting reused to a significantly brighter environment than the gloomy Ghost Zone that had only a slight iridescent shimmer that flickered to give off light. It was nothing compared to the sun…

With another groan Danny reached over and closed the blinds to the window that had been glaring down piercing sunbeams at his delicate frosty eyes. As soon as the expensive window treatments had been closed, sweet relief coursed through Danny's head at the darkness the gratefully soothed his headache as well as calm his rushing emotions and clear his head. Taking in a deep breath with his eyes closed, Danny took a moment to recollect his thoughts and tried to put them together in some organization of thought until a sudden rush overcame him, as if all adrenaline had been drained from his body.

Pain. Sheer, utter, explicit…

_**Pain**_.

A strangled cry no louder than a pin dropping worked its way up his vocal cords, the exertion stinging his entire midsection in pain as it released. Danny gagged at the burning and aching that pulsed through his body that was enough to knock himself off of the bed as he involuntarily thrashed. The injured teen felt the weightlessness take over his body before hearing a nauseating CRACK echo throughout the room.

The last thing Danny remembered was the distinct searing of his abdomen and the surefire hunch that it was his ribs that had snapped like toothpicks.

* * *

Vlad had been eating breakfast, very mundane breakfast, but tasty meal nonetheless. He could smell the heavenly whole grain toast with strawberry jam complete with a tall glass of expensive morning wine (because that is how Vladimir Masters rolls, with overly done meals) waft from the counter.

Of course, Vlad had been given this lovely meal by none other than his personal chef, Nomis, and her assistant. Nomis was a ghostly woman with ghostly white skin and she about five foot tall with a lean frame complete with silky locks of thick silvery blonde wavy hair that curled at the ends at her well defined waist. The beautiful ghost chef looked to be about in her mid twenties in her simple, unstained, cotton white sundress; even though her wooden framed glasses showed eyes with a gleam of intelligence and understanding that looked far beyond the young age. The woman was as graceful as the ever crisp white calla lily growing in the kitchen window, bounding across the sterling silver kitchen that she simply… belonged with; she fit so well that even her assistant seemed to blend into the canvas of the kitchen.

The assistant was a frail, ghostly blue tinged child who looked approximately seven years old, and the solitary little girl was simply an enigma. She was about three feet tall and looked to be about thirty-five pounds, and if she had been human, child surely services would have whisked her away because of malnourishment that resulted in her tiny stature.

But the most eccentric item about this girl was not the intense omnipotent look in her eyes, or the out of control white curls with intensifying red streaks that bounced down her back. No… This seven year old had a haunted look behind the glasses to her pale stormy grey eyes that darted over her shoulder like a horror movie victim.

Perhaps, the paranoia was another condition which came with her silence. For, as long as Vlad had known her, the child was mute, never uttering a word… Not even to tell the staff of the mansion her name. (Not that she _**could**_, of course… But that is a tale for another day.)

Jolting out of his thoughts as a plate was placed in front of him, Vlad glanced up quickly at Nomis with a half hearted nod of thanks before he went back to thinking. There were several arrangements he needed to make regarding Scaeth's imprisonment, and introducing the staff to the knowledge of another being in the house would be at the top of his priorities.

But of course, Vlad knew that even with the tiny number of ghosts under his employment that one of the snooping women had seen Scaeth already. It was foolish to think otherwise. The older man warily hoped that the convict had not blown the gossiping women up yet…

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Vlad rose from his chair with fluidity often associated only with him. The man looked to his kitchen staff, intending to give a swift nod of departure when he stopped. The little assistant was staring at him with little grey orbs that gored his very soul. Ignoring the shiver that crawled down his spine, Vlad met her gaze for a moment until she darted her eyes up meaningfully to the ceiling and quickly back to him as if conveying to him a secret message-

SMASH!

Vlad jumped a good two feet into the air at the massive sound wave that had just penetrated the sound proof room. Everything was completely silent for just a moment before the most tortured scream Vlad had ever hear pierced his ears. Eyes immediately followed the strangled sound to the cream ceiling, and with only pausing to give the little girl an astonished look, the elder halfa 'went ghost' and phased abruptly through the ceiling and onto the floor of the room of the now silent Scaeth.

As soon as the man's feet hit the floor, he instantly lit his hand with pink ectoplasm for light and stood over the unconscious teen to survey the situation.

The child's face was even paler than the deathly looking white that normally suited his countenance and this iridescent pale was complete with cold sweat pooling on the soft curves of his face. Vlad felt a sharp intake of a sickening sense of an emotion that he could not name wash over him, and gave him the need to do something for the weakened teen that he now realized had fallen off of the bed (which was almost impossible given just how large the mattress was).

The elder man gathered the thin cloaked figure into his arms and with a gentleness he did not know (or want to know) that he had, Vlad placed the child onto the squishy mattress. Cocking his head to the side, Vlad really did not know what to make of this. It was obvious that the young one had not randomly fallen off of the bed and it was simply unlikely that he rolled off voluntarily and-

Suddenly the train of thought running through his head just halted as he looked at an ominous icy blue liquid that was running down his arms. It was freezing to the touch and as soon as it was warmed and sizzled for a few moments by the touch of his skin it altered its coloring to a bright green, as if it were ectoplasm.

Was that Scaeth's _**blood**_?

Narrowing his eyes, Vlad looked towered over the teen and pulled the cloak off of the slim figure. Looking at the much less intimidating teenager in a t-shirt and black jeans, the elder halfa raised an eyebrow questioningly at the growing dark stains in the frail young man's shirt. He looked at Scaeth for a moment, debating whether or not to care until he gave a resigned sigh and pulled back the black shirt-

Ug.

Turning slightly green, Vlad winced at the sight. That strange frigid aqua blood was all over the chest of the young man oozing from a wound obviously made from a rib protruding painfully from his abdominal cavity, causing the halfa to bite his lip in concentration. Scaeth must have had that rib broken really badly for awhile for that to be halfway out of his flesh, but how had he kept this broken rib from him? After all, Vlad prided himself on being a very observant individual, and to have someone undoubtedly in a lot of pain and him not notice it? Sure, he may not have really cared…. But at least he would have known about it and he could have helped him (if only to get on the young one's good side, but nobody needed to know that).

Shaking his head, Vlad walked to the bathroom to procure a first aid kit. After swiftly washing his hands and forearms, the man set himself next to the child and braced the rib with one hand and the other on Scaeth's chest. And without further ado, he snapped the rib back into place only to have freezing blood spewing out of the gaping wound.

Ouch.

Quickly, the billionaire disinfected the wound with a distanced appearance suited for an experienced doctor, and stitched the wound back together, and then applied the thickest gauze he owned around the unconscious Scaeth's abdomen with practiced hands until he had used the entire roll of the medical product.

Exhaling with furrowed eyebrows, Vlad took a step back from the fierce blue blood bath for a moment to look at the injured enigma in front of him. The teen had regained a shade of color, and even with the slightly vein-blue undertones of his skin he seemed to look slightly less… dead. If Vlad was honest with himself, he would say that the child looked almost ethereal and otherworldly with his hair darker than a raven's wing and flesh lighter than porcelain. If the older man had not seen the injured convict utterly destroy that Ancient guard earlier, the word delicate may have even passed through his head-

"Eueeruehg…"

Vlad jumped back at the sudden movement on the bed with navy eyes wide as he looked at the blood encrusted teen survey the situation he was lying in. Scaeth swept his flashing eyes across the room once and with a look at his bare chest, the teenager blinked with an astonished countenance at the man across from him. A single word was all the weakened teen managed to force out of his mouth before his eyelids drooped and he crashed back down to the bed.

"Oh."

* * *

**_So... What do you guys think? I tried to get another chapter out faster than usual, because I was excused from all of my finals. So, I hope you all enjoyed it!_**

**_PLEASE review!_**

**_kirby_**


	12. Last Resort

_**I don't own Danny Phantom or any songs I use. Enjoy!**_

Chapter 12: Last Resort

**_Cut my life into pieces,_**

**_This is my last resort,_**

**_Suffocation._**

**_No breathing._**

_~Last Resort by Papa Roach_

* * *

Sighs filled the room as the vampire-like half ghost entered his now brightly lit secret lab. Vlad had taken his leave of the wounded Scaeth's room an hour ago, and now he looked upon his lab with something akin to awe or frustration. Awe, because of the sheer amount of power it must have taken to demolish half of the steel plated laboratory, but frustration at the amount of cleaning up he needed to do. And the worst part was, Vlad couldn't actually call in a construction company for this little detail of his mansion. After all, it is his _**secret**_ lab, so the most help he was going to get would be from his maids, however, there was no way on this Earth that he would let the prissy females clean up toxic substances.

Honestly, though, those maids were something out of high school with all of their gossiping. They did their jobs well, laundering clothes and bed sheets, disinfecting the bathrooms, dusting, and tidying up the house… But… they are slightly incompetent brain cell wise-

"Oh Master Vlad!"

Speak of the devils…. Vlad knew those shrill unison voices anywhere.

Suddenly, three ghostly green maids _**graced**_ the lab with their unneeded presence. Prancing in as if they were ballerinas, the thin but all together average looking ghost girls in their red sundresses approached their employer. With overly sweetened looks plastered on their faces that were almost thicker than the makeup that they had already painted onto themselves. The maids looked to have the appearance of women in their early twenties and they all looked vaguely similar to each other the maids seemed to be the exact height and weight of a regular woman, about five feet five inches tall and around one hundred and thirty five pounds. They each had the same red sundress on with makeup so red that it matched perfectly. They all had very common straight hair with straight bangs, and easy to walk in red flats with no embellishments.

In short, these women were heavily conformist as well as heavily annoying.

Taking a deep breath, Vlad turned to them with an eyebrow raised and asked, "Why are you disturbing me? Has something detrimental happened that needs my assistance?"

"Well… No..." One maid stuttered, suddenly very intimidated by the man (as most of the staff was). Another maid picked up where the other stopped. "But, sir, we… we were dusting today, and one of the vacant rooms was locked…. And… um-" The last maid continued on in the conversation as if she had been talking the entire time, she fit her fellow maids' voice so well. "We wanted to know… if you… if you…. Wanted us not to go inside of the room or if we had a visitor…."

As the maid trailed off, Vlad replied with a bored, business retort of, "Yes, we have a visitor who will be remaining here for the unforeseeable future. Therefore, I expect you three to be cleaning the room to its utmost potential, however, see to it that you three only clean the room once or twice in a week as per usual when guests are living in the premises. Now, I expect that to be all, so you three are dismissed."

Vlad then turned back to the lab, pondering how one finds something stronger than steel to make the walls out of-

"But sir-" The maids said in unison.

"Dismissed."

"Master Vlad-"

"Dismissed."

"But-"

"DISMISSED!"

"Sir I really think you should look-"

An almost growl passed through Vlad's lips as he wonders why in God's creation he keeps them around. "What? What could be _**so important**_ that you distract me from my work?"

"That beaker is on fire."

"GET OUT!"

* * *

Do you remember when you were a child and you got sick or maybe a bad cut? If you were sick, you were sent to be and an adult or maybe an older sibling would tend to you and wait on you until you fell asleep. The warm feeling of being loved was present as the people who you care about would ask how you felt and you felt better. When you woke the next day, the warm feeling was still present and you felt comfortable and safe in your blankets.

Comfortable and safe…

That isn't exactly how Danny found himself as he woke up a few hours later. No. Instead, Danny was strung up _**upside down**_ from the rafter in the room Vlad had lain him in hours earlier. He felt blood running down his face as a shallow head wound throbbed on his forehead and the teenager could feel the burning of his healing ribs as they protested at his position in the air. Holding in a groan, Danny opened his eyes only to feel his heart drop. Yours would too if the first thing you saw after waking up from a bad injury were two familiar Ancient guards and a club.

Crap.

And why the heck was he upside down? Was that really necessary?

"Eh, it's awake!"

"Oi! Clobber 'im again!"

Danny had no time to react as a blow to his kneecap made him scream out in agony, and the pressure of hanging upside down built up in his head.

"Hey," he heard one Ancient say with an unintelligent grunt, "if we hit 'im will candy come out?"

"Yea! Hit him in da ribs!"

Oh no… As if someone had splashed a gallon of ice water on his head, Danny's frigid iced eyes lit up and all drowsiness from being unconscious evaporated, and without thinking twice about it, he sent the guards flying out of the room with a stream of ice from his eyes. Once the threat of those idiots had been sent down a few flights of stairs, the bloodied teen slashed the chains that held his to the rafters with a quick slash of ice and tumbled to the floor in an undignified heap.

Oww…

Looking up from his spot on the floor Danny could help but notice Vlad standing at the doorway with an expression akin to bewilderment with two guards behind him, ready to beat the living heck out of him. Bracing himself, the young man clenched his hands and readied himself for the beating of a life time.

Until Vlad opened his mouth.

"Now my good Ancients, may I interest you in some tea and scones?"

Yeah, because that is what everyone asks in America, especially when dealing with qualified torturers. Blood thirsty powerful Ancients must totally love tea and scones-

"No you idiot, we aren't British." The Ancient sneered at Vlad (who, by the way looked very ticked that someone called him and idiot). The powerful guard then seemed to realize something and looked at his watch only to pale. Turning to his partner he said, "We're late. Gotta make this quick." The other Ancient just mumbled something about there never being enough time for a good torturing session before snapping its fingers.

The instant the Ancient made the snapping noise, a red beam surrounded the room like a Fenton Ghost Shield, and Danny immediately knew what it was. A special prison for him and him alone that would incase his 'freakness'.

As if it was dawning on him for the first time, Danny's frigid eyes widened in a flash of crazy realization. The teenager gazed upon the blazing scarlet prison surrounding him, and he started to hyperventilate. Panic rushed in immediately, making him already trembling hands shake violently as he looked at Vlad on the other side of the blood red translucent wall of pain. And seeing the man that had been so firmly rooted in his past on the other side of that obstacle…

Danny had never felt the creeping tendrils of loneliness seep through the pores of his heart like this before, as if it were tearing it into a thousand pieces by slowly wrenching it apart from the very core.

Not to mention the furious migraine that pushed its way into his skull at the bright light of the prison.

Fighting back the urge to break down in front of the man and the Ancient Guards, the vulnerable teenager twisted back around to face his bed and just stood there. He felt like a wild pig that has been brutally beaten and kept on the verge of death for slaughter. Injuries covered his skin, and he was trapped-

No. Danny was not _**trapped**_. That would insinuate that he was still running, but he had already agreed to his sentence. Danny was very much…

Owned.

Not by Vlad, of course, but the creatures that kicked him like the disobedient animal that he was into his former archenemy's lair. Danny was nothing now, but a piece of _**property**_ of the Ancients, complete with a shock collar and disinclined obedience.

Letting out a shaky sigh, he tried to get up and at least show the Ancients that he was strong, but as soon as he put weight in the knee that the Ancients had clobbered, he fell back to the floor.

He looked back up at Vlad from the ground as the Ancient guards left, and Danny really felt like he had truly lost.

And there was no coming back from the brink this time.

* * *

_**I apologize for not replying to a ton of your reviews…. Really wanted to get this chapter out soon!**_

_**So what did you guys think? Opinion of the maids? What did you think of the random upside down torture session? Reminded me of that Harry Potter troll scene, weirdly enough…..**_

_**Anyway, thank you all for your reviews!**_

_**kirby**_


	13. Using Knives

_**I don't own Danny Phantom or any songs I use. Enjoy!**_

_**The Dark Knight**_

_Do you want to know why I use a knife? _

_Guns are too quick. _

_You can't savor all the… little emotions. In… you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?_

_**~Heath Ledger as The Joker**_

* * *

The elder half ghost really was not sure what he was feeling after having watched Scaeth be beaten by the Ancients. He knew guilt was swirling in that pot of emotion… probably for not saying anything or taking action against the Ancients, and the man could feel sadness and pity for the teenager… But there was _**something else**_ inside devouring the happiness of the halfa and turning his stomach until it felt like releasing its contents on the floor. Vlad felt sick and… And what? It couldn't be anger, but it was negative and he just didn't know how to place it-

A strangled gasp interrupted his emotional turmoil and Vlad shot forward through the red shield that he vowed to figure out later, to grab Scaeth as he tried to stand up again in case he was to fall over again. Gripping the teen around his shoulders, Vlad took as much of the child's weight as he could to support him upright. The glazed, tired but yet still electric blue eyes looked up at him with a silent 'thank you' as Vlad helped him hobble toward his bed. The younger man in his arms gasped at the exertion on his ribs and leg, but kept going nonetheless until he ended up sitting propped up on against the headboard.

Scaeth then closed his eyes in obvious agony and massaged his temples as Vlad took a look at the shallow slash the child had received on his forehead. It looked a lot worse than it was as the angry scratch bled the blue blood profusely until it ran over Scaeth's entire face, but the child paid it no mind. He was too busy massaging his temples as if he had a headache or something. Focusing on the gash on his forehead, Vlad held some gauze to it to staunch the bleeding and almost missed the soft sound coming from the bleeding teenager.

"You don't have to do this, V-vlad." The whisper was soft, weak even and it trembled slightly at the 'V' in his name, but he continued without even opening his eyes, "Really, you don't."

A single eyebrow rose at the weakened, even…. Defeated tone in the child's voice, and suddenly, Vlad felt that this decision to heal this teenager was imperative. It was a fork in the road, if you will. Should he go and bandage the child's wounds, the elder man would be tying himself to the being by an I.O.U. being indebted to him. And if the halfa did not help the young one lying bleeding in one of the rooms in his mansion, he would have the black guilt of letting him bleed out and possibly be wasted.

Vlad took a minute to answer, but when he did the only reply was, "Just hold still while I replace the gauze-"

Another strangled gasp followed by a quiet scream was ripped from Scaeth's lungs as the teen gripped his own hair and pulled it as if he was trying to get out of his own head.

Vlad could barely hear as Scaeth whispered a crazed murmur under his breath, "Too bright… too much light…. Need dark… Migraines with light… Pain…. Pain…. Too bright…"

Too bright?

To Vlad's eyes it was averagely lit with the square of glowing red plasma enveloping the room, but now that he thought about it… before that square had been activated, it had been pitch black in that room. Was that because the light harms the teen?

Going on that hunch, Vlad calmly but swiftly opened the walk in closet in the room and found the box he had been mailed a few months ago. It was from an aspiring inventor named Duke Sonnenbrille who invented what Vlad thought was one of the dumbest things he had ever seen. They were glasses that tinted so darkly in the light that human eyes cannot see out of them, and in the dark they become lighter but not enough that it is detrimental and the person wearing them still could not see. It was idiotic really, until Vlad opened the box and realized they were perfect for this.

Shaking his head, he took larger steps until he reached the bed and pried screaming Scaeth's clawing hands away from his face to shove the glasses on. It took a few minutes for anything to change, but after those few moments, the child's tense shoulders loosened and dropped slightly in relief. His ragged gasping breathing slowed and seconds later with a much stronger voice Scaeth looked Vlad in the eye and said, "Bad light sensitive migraines….Thank you, Vlad," with his voice thick with gratefulness to which Vlad just nodded back.

And naturally, a long awkward silence followed.

That is, until Scaeth accidentally moved his clubbed knee. A gasp and a loud wince escaped and as Vlad moved forward to help, the teen just waved him off with a smirk.

"That's all right, Vlad." He gave the elder man a half grin before saying, "Limb injuries I can handle."

And so he did. The teen rolled his pant leg back, showing an obviously out of place joint. It looked as if the patella, his kneecap, had been contorted in a way that it stuck up from where it needed to be and was further down on the knee than it should have been.

A murmur of, "Just dislocated, no big deal," floated up to the silver haired man's ear, making an incredulous look fall over Vlad's façade of calm, cool, and uncaring.

So as if he was an expert, Scaeth felt around the bone, feeling where things weren't supposed to be and where they needed to be. Without batting an eyelash, the injured young man took both hands and jerked the bone up and to the left like an ER doctor. With a resounding crack, the bone was set and with a calm expression unfit for one that just did such a painful resetting, Scaeth smiled at him.

But then he said something that would surprise Vlad whenever he thought about this moment.

With a slightly troubled countenance, the omnipotent teenager said as he bit his lip, "We need to talk, Vlad. I don't think that this is going to work-"

A smart alec comment flew to Vlad's tongue at that moment and a grin spread across his thin mouth before Scaeth thrust his palm to his forehead. He then threw up his hands and yelled, "Not what I meant!"

But the older halfa wasn't going to let it go. Smirkingly he retorted, "Good, because you really aren't my type."

A roll of the eyes was followed with, "_**You**_ have a _**type**_? I never pictured you for the ladies man, Vlad. Is it your _**youthful**_ appearance or the green and yellow cheese obsession that brings them in? How do you _**ever**_ keep all of your fan girls away?"

Never even faltering as he slightly enjoyed the banter back and forth, Vlad returned with a quick, "Touché. Oh dear, I've made a rhyme."

"What a crime." Scaeth said sardonically, now smirking widely and seemed to be enjoying the moment as much as Vlad had been. "But back to what I was saying…" That troubled expression crept its way back up to Scaeth's face as he spoke."I think I need to get you out of the dark, so to speak. You probably deserve to know more than I have been telling you, even trusting to you."

"Oh?" Vlad questioned lightly to hide his surprise (and his sense of déjà vu. Where had he heard banter like that before? He couldn't quite place it, but he had heard it somewhere!) , "And why so open all of a sudden?"

The teen just smiled with a peaceful and yet omnipotent look in his eyes behind those dark sunglasses. He looked at Vlad with that knowing gaze, as if he was recalling past memories to the forefront of his mind. Scaeth's genuine, but slightly poignant smile grew more and more morose as he spoke with a soft, reminiscing tone. "I know a lot more about you than you think, Vlad. I know the Vlad underneath the entire formal business exterior and obsessing ghost half, and as a wise man once told me… 'Everyone deserves a second chance, why not you?'

"But I digress." Scaeth abruptly shook himself out of what must have been a heavy memory judging from the lost glaze over his eyes, and continued. "I'm not exactly sure how to go about telling you all of this… So, why don't you ask questions again and just ask them for Pete's sake this time? I know you were holding back the last time we had our little Q and A to make me feel better."

A retort was bit back in response when Vlad saw the smirk play on Scaeth's lips. Raising his eyebrows in an 'oh, really?' gesture, the older halfa thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Very well." He spoke in a business like tone, one that fit the man so well… He was cold, calculating, and in his element. "I will ask my questions… For one… You are very stoic all of the time, unlike most teenagers I know. Why so… serious?"

For some reason, this caused the bedridden teen to almost dissolve in a fit of hilarity. Scaeth smiled and returned with a heavily accented, "Do you know… How I got these scars?"

Clueless (as always when it comes to awesome references), Vlad shook his head to the question and the teen just did a face palm.

"No? You really didn't get that?" A hopeless expression came up with the humor in the child's eyes. "Dude… Heath Ledger? (You call yourself an American?) You really need to watch the Dark Knight."

Slightly getting the fact that this must have been a television reference, (who watches those ridiculous TV shows anyway…? It's all reality garbage,) Vlad let it go even as a strange sense of familiarity at seeing the teen acting like a… teen. (Now that he thought about it, Scaeth's bizarre movie references were quite a lot like Daniel's, odd…) He ended up simply staring at the young man and just asked, "How did you get those scars, particularly the one on your eye? That looks rather painful…"

The older man trailed off and all traces of humor were wiped from the child's eyes as Scaeth bit his lip. A far away glaze swept over the child's blue orbs and Scaeth traced the long, jagged line of scar tissue down his face. Only then did Vlad realize that the scar didn't just stop at the top of his eyes and restart at the bottom. No, it ran right through his very eye, inside of the eye was a marred iris. The slice in the delicate flesh looked to have long since closed, leaving a thicker protrusion of a slightly red and white scar down the middle of his eye.

"I can still see out of the eye." Scaeth started quietly, still tracing the scar, "I heal quickly and the man I lived with was a _**very**_ experience healer, but this scar is set as a reminder." As if he was lost in another time completely, Scaeth looked off over Vlad's shoulder, seeming to be deep in thought.

When the child didn't come out of his stupor, the older man asked for only the point for the dazed teen to continue, "A reminder?"

"Huh?" Scaeth jumped slightly before looking back to Vlad. "Er, yeah. I got this scar from the Head Ancient.

His voice seemed to travel off loftily as he spoke, as if the words in his voice were drifting off with his thoughts. "I believe he said I was (and I quote), 'Unfit for any and all power in the universe. You are a globule of scum underneath the Ancients' feet, and even if an Almighty power ripped your freakiness apart _**molecule by molecule **_and put you back together with complete_** normalcy**_, you would never be fit for any role in this world that doesn't involve being dissected in an inhumane human world laboratory! HOW DARE YOU EVEN LOOK AT ME, FREAK!' And then he took a sharpened, unsterilized scalpel to my face before myself or the other person in the room could have done anything. I was blinded in one eye for quite a long time."

Now, to Vlad's credit… The man was taking this extraordinarily well. Although, he was not the most emotionally tuned to anyone's feelings, the man could sympathize a little in regard to scars and hardships.

As an afterthought while Vlad was taking it all in, Scaeth just murmured softly, but loudly enough for the man to hear, "Not exactly my best birthday, but not my worst."

Oh… Wow.

And of course, the natural question which follows that statement is burst from Vlad's lips before he can stop the very personal question. "So what was your _**worst**_ birthday?"

Silence.

Not a sound crossed the older hybrid's ear drum until a forceful, "Next question."

"Have I struck a nerve? I-"

"Don't care. _**Next. Question**_."

Internally wincing at the vigor projected behind the words, the invisible force was as strong as the energy behind Daniel's 'Ghostly Wail', and the daggers being drilled into his head from behind sunglasses were not helping the man's bravery either. "Very well," Vlad noticed the tense shoulders of the being sitting on the bed relax instantaneously. "Can you explain your… abilities? I have never seen any quite like them."

And in an instant, the forceful demeanor of the teenager was gone, having been replaced by a huge (somewhat prideful) smirk. A playful tone matched his smirk as he slyly answered, "And what makes you think you've seen _**all**_ of my powers, Vlad?"

Before he could reply, the older man watched as Scaeth's eyes grew a little bluer than they had been moments before. Vlad didn't even have time to blink as smoke-like, delicate wisps twirled around the convict's fingers like a clingy snake.

And suddenly, quite a few things happened. First, a low breath was exhaled from the teenager and his posture relaxed as if he was simply at peace. A small smile drifted onto the child's face that was soft, so much like Vlad had seen Daniel give his sister a few weeks ago on the surveillance. Then, the tendrils of darkness gathered together into a single spiraling orb in the powerful being's open fist. And finally, the orb in Scaeth's hand flattened and twisted gracefully, artfully even, to create a small clock with wisps of shadows twirling around the hands as it went _**tick… tock.**_

"Fascinating…" Vlad didn't realize he had spoken aloud until Scaeth looked up from the still ticking clock to grin a slightly forced smile. The older man didn't bother to return it, as he was contemplating… "Is this," he asked, gesturing to the clock, "why the Head Ancient dislikes you so?"

"You could say that."

Cryptic answers again, _**wonderful**_. Vlad would be lying if he said he wasn't frustrated, because he wanted to know! The older man wanted to understand why, why, why, why the younger being was in _**his**_ mansion and he wanted to know more about the creature who put him there.

Vlad said scowling, "What happened to Mr. Open Conversation? I thought the point was to tell me information."

A reply was quick, although unsure from Scaeth. "Well, you just need to know _**some**_ things about me and those Ancients that you _**suck up to**_ so much."

"I do not 'suck up'-"

The younger man just cocked his head to the side and gave Vlad one of those 'Do I _**look**_ like a moron?' looks. "Please, Vlad. You would have never let me through the door if you didn't want something from them. And it isn't any of my business what you want to get out of them liking you, Vlad… but just know that any game you play with Ancients is a dangerous, unfair one."

The silver haired man just brushed away the warning. After all, what did this weakened teenager know? He isn't Vlad, the strong, manipulative halfa that he is. So Scaeth lost, well he isn't Vlad, because Vladimir Masters is a winner. He will do anything to get what he wants-

"Relax, Vlad." Scaeth cut his angry musing off calmly. "It isn't my intention to undermine your… abilities. I just want you to know what you are getting into."

Amusement now flooded Vlad's mind. A teenager giving him such advice was a laughable prospect in itself… So Vlad smiled and humored him. "And what is it exactly that I am getting into, hmm?"

And in an instant, the older man saw the calm, all knowing Scaeth vanish as a dark quality rose into the teen's irises. Wrath erupted in those eyes and thin tendrils of shadows circled viciously around the younger man's fingers like snakes ready to seize its prey, and the dark, echoing voice that came out next was frightening enough for Vlad to have to hold back a shudder.

"Do you think this is a _**joke**_? Do you think I am warning you just for kicks? Maybe because I'm bored? No. I'm trying to help you, Vladimir. " Vlad could feel the ferocity come off of the teenager in waves as he put special emphasis on using his entire name, making the forty-something year old feel as if he was being berated by his father (if his father was this scary and threatening, that is…). Scaeth seemed to grow angrier as he continued. "I know exactly how _**ruthless**_, how _**blood thirsty**_, how _**evil**_, and how _**power hungry**_ they are. I know better than anyone how they _**tear**_ families apart, throwing human and ghost children in ghost jail cells or down some Trench of Terror or Fall of Fear because they are_** bored. **_

"I know better than any creature _**on this Earth**_ how they exploit your hidden weaknesses and _**rip away **_the people _**you love most**_ in this world." Scaeth's voice grew in angry intensity, but never volume as he spoke in a low, threatening tone that seemed to have much more depth than Vlad realized. The elder man suddenly felt as if the dark entity was speaking about something deeper than himself… Something the teenager was so furious about that he was ranting to Vlad, who most ghosts were terrified to fly next to.

And just when the older halfa thought he was finished, Scaeth took off his sunglasses (even thought the light was still the same intensity), winced, and then bored his sharp, icy, bioluminescent eyes into his. "I know how their torturers torment the ghost children and the elderly specters in the streets, doing things like permanently crippling their limbs or _**sewing their mouths shut**_ if they try to yell for help. So don't humor me, Vladimir Masters. _**Listen to me**_, because I. Have. Lived. Their hell. I have seen them obliterate people, ghosts, and spirits again and again! They don't just manipulate. These Ancients find a slight amount of power under you and exploit it _**for years**_ until they make a move for the kill, and _**You. Have. No. Chance.**_ They. Will. Destroy. You. So when you fall to them _**broken beyond repair**_, don't come crying to me!

"_**You have been warned**_," the teenager then put his glasses back on and took a staggering breath for a moment as if to calm himself and with a much gentler tone, he said, "but I know you very well Vlad. You are not going to listen to me, and don't try to convince me otherwise.

"Just… Just try to remember what I say here. The Ancients are more cunning, ruthless, and terrifying than you can ever imagine. So whatever you are trying to do… _**Really**_ think about it first, more than you usually do, and don't do it alone. There is a reason the Ancients rip families, organizations, and people in general apart…" Extra weight carried on his voice as the scarred teen said, "They do it, because alone we are powerless to them, but with help… with someone to watch your back that you trust with your life…

"They'll have a _**real**_ fight on their hands."

_**Brriiinnngggg!**_

Vlad jumped at the sound of an alarm coming from the shadow clock in Scaeth's lap before the teenager simply waved his hand over the clock to silence it.

"I believe that is your cue to leave Vlad. Good night."

Returning the 'good night', Vlad took his leave of the red shielded room, noted to himself to check out that red shield tomorrow, and it took him until he was two hallways down to realize he had been dismissed to bed by a teenager.

How demeaning.

* * *

_Wow! I cranked out a chapter in 4 days! (You guys DID tell me to hurry, so I obliged!) And... my longest chapter yet in this story! (4,000 words!) Do you guys like the length better? Did you like the Dark Knight quotes? (Awesome movie, eh?)_

_Was the ending okay? I wasn't really sure how to close this chapter, since I usually use a cliffy…_

_**How was Danny's rant?**_

_But anyway, thank you to all of my readers and reviewers! I'm nothing without you guys!_

_And on another note… I really want to hear what you guys have to say about this chapter. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. I love hearing your input and I really do try to implement your suggestions into the story. So, please review!_

_kirby_


	14. Everybody Hurts Sometimes

_**I don't own Danny Phantom or any songs I use. Enjoy!**_

_Everybody cries,_

_Everybody hurts… Sometimes._

_** Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.**_

* * *

The young man watched as the bewildered half ghost hybrid vacated the room, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down. After all, it wasn't ever day that he unleashed all of his negative feelings on the first person that crossed him, even though Vlad may have only deserved a rant with about half of the malice… But if it got his point across, whom really cared? He just needed Vlad to know that failure is actually an option for the elder halfa, no matter how cocky the silver haired man was.

_**Tick. Tock.**_

Sighing, Danny placed the clock resting in his lap onto the side table and visibly relaxed at the presence of the ticking clock, feeling more and more calmed than he had felt since Clock-… Since he was brought to the mansion by those barbaric guards. Those stupid, irritating torturers with their clubs and brute strength, only following the orders of their 'superior', but loving every minute of the cold, heartless beating of Danny, who was already down and being kicked like an abused dog. It was miserable, terrifying, excruciating, agonizing, and demoralizing all at the same time; and to be honest, Danny was getting tired of them turning up at what always seemed to be random intervals. Do these idiots even have a schedule or were they just popping in whenever they figured Danny needed a punch in the face?

_**Tick. Tock.**_

Angry now, the teenager slammed his fist against the headboard of the bed, ignoring the fact that it almost buckled as it cracked under the pressure. How are those inept morons going to torture him next? Bash his head with that club? Take a knife to his throat? Leave him until his paranoia makes him go nuts? It just wasn't right!

_**T-tick. T-tock.**_

How dare they beat him like a rabid, feral animal! He, Clockwork's Apprentice, was and is more powerful than they could ever be! How _**dare**_ they hold his mentor's existence against him like this, penning him in a room with a scarlet prison until they feel fit to obliterate his delicate mental state! Danny felt an emotion well up on his chest and give strength to his limbs that he knew to be a strong, violent urge and an emotion he knew he should not be experiencing.

He knew it was hate-

_**SMASH!**_

Danny jumped in an instant as the clock he had crafted minutes earlier exploded on the bedside table. Shards of jet black shadow shot out from the device and then disappeared all together, leaving an empty surface next to his master bed.

Okay… Weird.

That had never happened before… What was going on?

"Screw this!" He muttered and fell back into a defeated slump, gazing at the infuriating wall of blood red wafting in front of the door. Danny felt like a kid that had been sent to his room, grumbling about how unfair life was and how mean and stupid his p-parents were. Honestly, the injured teen felt a little- no… _**really**_ ridiculous when he realized that was actually what he had been acting like, a little kid that had stomped off with a pouting face.

Shaking it off, he murmured rather forcefully, "Get a hold of yourself already and do something! There's a wall in front of you, so tear it down! The Ancients can't hold Clockwork's Apprentice!"

A swirling ball of black abyss instantly smoldered in the Demon of Shadows' pallid, trembling hand. He let out a sharp exhale before discharging the ectoplasmic-like power toward the wall at high speeds, only for the burst of power to be absorbed into the scarlet wall of despair, which glowed stronger with the new energy. Frustrated, Danny scowled and sent more and more at that wall. Shadows were upon the shield in mere seconds, as were shards of ice and multiple blasts of devastating black orbs in seconds firing faster than a crazed wild boar crashing through the forest. After rapid fire attacks from one of the most influential entities in the Ghost Zone, the Shield was still standing proudly, if only a little brighter.

And Danny couldn't stop the wave of emotion that pulsed through him. He felt anger, full consuming and utterly bone wrenching fury that could bring the world to its knees, pleading for mercy. Harnessing that blind wrath, the Demon of Shadows stared at the shield until that pure rage had built up to a dam of pain before releasing it all in one devastating blast to the wall with a yell of intensity.

It was only when the smoke cleared that the abused teen's hopes vanished and his heart plummeted to the depths of the Earth. It was as if everything really set in and all of the pent up emotion the child had hidden from the Ancients and Vlad poured out. Danny immediately felt his eyes burn, but not of ferocity as they crammed with salty tears. There then came the sobs of stress and pain, trembling of hurt, pain of slaughter, and the emotional torment of complete and utter _**failure**_ as he saw the shield still standing. He failed Clockwork. He failed the civilians of the Ghost Zone. He failed the time stream. Danny couldn't even get past a simple blockade anymore even after pouring all of his remaining abysmally weakened power into it.

And that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Punching the headboard again with a weakened anger, the eighteen year old hunched over on the bed with his hands cupping his head as tears streaked down his face like drops of blood falling down his cheeks. His body wracked with demoralizing emotion and agonizing sobs that morphed into whimpers of a faint, "I'm sorry, so… so sorry C-Clockwork." and an even softer, "I d-d-didn't m-mean for it to t-t-turn out t-this w-way! W-w-why can't I do anything right?"

Tears no longer leaked out of his eyes, no… The devastated liquid _**rushed**_ from the glands of the shattered teen's dulled eyes behind the sunglasses that were given to him by another person he must have failed _**something **_for. The taste of salt caught in his mouth as tears cascaded down, but Danny couldn't care enough to wipe them away, and only silently wished for someone to comfort him… To wipe his tears away for him, the way his parents never did.

Not that he deserved comfort.

The broken Danny remained like that for a long while, weeping his eyes out and crying for the first time since he had cried in Clockwork's protective, shielding arms his first week in the Tower. His blubbering insisted on continuing long after the tears had stopped flowing, guilt making his form shiver and shake violently along with his harsh sobbing. His cries did not release his emotions, but instead with each sob he felt the negative emotions pile on with more pain and all of his memories of his sufferings at the hands of Ancients, his parents, and everyone else that made his gasping of breath and sharp, distraught exhales increase in violence until the next hour of the night when Danny had cried himself to sleep in a deep haze of tears.

Though, the hysterical teen would not notice when he awoke, his sobbing form had been moved from its hunched position into a comfortable sleeping one. Nor would he realize that the soft, tear stained blanket had been pulled over his frail shoulders by the silver haired billionaire whom had been stationed at the teen's door in astonishment ever since he had heard Danny's bang of an ectoblast against the red shield. Danny could never see the saddened sympathy that washed over Vlad's navy eyes in that moment as he brushed back the black hair that stuck to the young one's tear stricken face with the tenderness of a father.

He would also never see the look on Vlad's face when he realized he had done the utterly tender act and run out of the room like a bat out of hell.

* * *

The elder halfa made in about three hallways down his mansion before he stopped running and braced himself against the wall. Breathing in hard gasps of air, Vlad closed his eyes and ran a hand through his silky silver locks. _**What**_ was he doing?

That involuntary action, the simple- dare he say it- _**fatherly**_ like gesture of tucking the teen in. What brought that on?

Maybe the crying or the heart wrenching sobs… But Vlad had seen people cry before, it was nothing new. So why did he even bother staying outside of the door after he had seen the convict lament? Sure, he was slightly stunned at the pure emotion that was unbalancing the tear stained Scaeth; however, why not make himself scarce? The child crying was no business of his, after all! Tucking the powerful entity in like he was some abuse victim was no job of his!

Right?

The well of sympathy for the child had not gone away as Vlad stood propped up against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, and the elder man could not help but feel for the young one. From what he had gathered, Scaeth had been wronged by the Ancients in some way judging by the malice he threw toward them in conversation, and the all powerful Head Ancient had placed him here out of some sort of spite. Perhaps the child was torn from a family? Vlad thought back to the crying teen's sobbed words. 'I'm sorry, so… so sorry C-Clockwork.' So yes, almost definitely a relative or friend of some sort that he lost or failed…

A feeling in his gut made it hard for Vlad to swallow for a few moments before the elder halfa realized that he legitimately felt sorry for the eighteen year old. With a jump, he started to pace. Why did he feel pity for Scaeth? Why had he tucked him in? Why? And after minutes upon minutes of pacing up a fraction of the hall, Vlad had a thought cross his mind that made him stop in his tracks. A moment flashed by as the halfa could only process a simple "Oh," past his mouth.

It was a single realization of a feeling, a tiny feeling that he had not felt since his early college days. It was somewhat startling to feel the emotion again… The emotion that he had only to some extent felt about Daniel. (It was a little funny how he had been relating Scaeth to Daniel so much recently. Curious… Perhaps he should mention Scaeth to young Daniel when he pays the fourteen year old another visit.)

But that emotion was different to what he had felt about Maddie, thank God. Vlad couldn't imagine the awkwardness and immense creepiness of pining for a teenager, especially one he relates to the young Fenton. However, the elder man felt something toward the young man in his guest room that felt… warmer and more innocent. It was the same emotion he had felt when Maddie and Jack had allowed him to hold Daniel when he was a happy gurgling baby.

It took the man a few seconds to pin down the name for it.

Caring.

He cared about the teen's wellbeing like a… parent.

The man nodded to himself, pleased at finding an answer, however, slightly discomforted by the information. How exactly does one act toward the powerful entity now? Scaeth did not know of his presence in the room at the time, so perhaps it would be better not to bring it up… But maybe he should be… _**kinder**_? Sighing with frustration, Vlad threw up his hands, and huffed, "I have no idea what I am supposed to do now…"

He started to move down the hall, not really looking where he was going until he had stormed around a good portion of the castle-like mansion and ended up in the sparkling white kitchen. Taking a seat, the man put his head down on the table, trying in vain to think and clear his head until a smell of hot chocolate wafted into his senses. Vlad looked up with his bloodshot, shadowed eyes only to see his Nomis, the motherly cook, floating there with a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top. In the dim light of the kitchen with a hot drink, she looked like an angel in her white apparel and her small smile.

She handed him the steaming mug and with soft, knowing silver eyes she asked softly, "Has he stopped crying yet?"

His eyes looked to the pretty lady in front of him. "Yes," he said tiredly, "he's asleep I just don't know what to do-" Vlad's head rose up from the table and looked at her with a confusedly creased forehead. He had not told her of the teenager upstairs, and even if he did, she couldn't have seen the child weeping as he was outside the room the entire time. "Wait a moment. How did you know…?"

A soft look came over the pale woman as she tilted her head to the side and smiled a little larger at her employer. "Call it an instinct, dearie. Besides, it was hard to miss the presence of Ancients, they give off a horrible aura and quite honestly I blame those awful robes. The poor dear, however, his aura contrasts very dramatically with theirs. He was difficult to miss." Pausing, the woman bit her lip as a troubled expression forced itself on her face. "And will you ask the girls to cleanse the halls again? I don't think Ancient stench will ever get out of those expensive carpets..." She shook her head before Nomis' silvery eyes behind her glasses gleamed with a certain air that reminded Vlad profoundly of his mother before she had passed away. Not in looks, because the halfa's mother was one of the ugliest people Vlad had ever seen in his entire life, but that protective gleam that twinkled ever so softly in her eyes brought back memories of a woman whom never let her son skip out on his chores.

And as if a thought had just reentered her head Nomis shot her eyes back to face Vlad and asked with concern flooding her voice, "So what do you intend to do once the boy wakes up? He must be a mess after all that he has been through… Poor child… I heard he had been dragged through the Ghost Zone by those awful guards! It is a wonder he hasn't broken down before this. Poor dear…"

Surprise flew through Vlad as well as a slight giddiness from the hope of some more information. "Wait a moment," the man said, "how have you come by this, Nomis and what else do you know about our guest?"

Her eyebrows arched in astonishment as Vlad, and just stared at him for a moment with sheer disbelief. Nomis let a small giggle trickle out of her pretty smile and she said, "The news is all over the Ghost Zone, Vlad. I'm a little shocked that someone as _**informed**_ as yourself finds out all of the important new last." The teasing note in her voice silenced Vlad's rebuttal as he simply rolled his eyes good naturedly instead. She giggled again for a second before going back to her elaboration. "The rumors are that the Demon of Shadows was blackmailed –with what no one knows- and the Ancients are behind it. It is quite a shame, really. The dear was good to the ghosts living in the Zone."

The ethereal cook sighed and ran her pale fingers through her silver locks before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But how have you not heard of the child until now? He is rather well liked and popular in the Ghost Zone, and I believe he has been around the Zone for four years now."

"No…" He mumbled to himself, lost in thought, "No, I haven't seen him before he was taken here, even though I have been mapping the Ghost Zone out for years! How could I have missed such a powerful entity? There is no way I, Vladimir Plasmius, could ever miss something like that!"

Chuckling interrupted Vlad's thoughts as the wholesome woman in front of him shook with laughter. "Oh, Vlad… Vlad… Vlad…" Nomis chided, "I may need to leave the room as your arrogance is taking up a good portion of it. I may suffocate under the sheer mass of your big head." A grin followed her little joke as the young lady floated gracefully into the chair next to the halfa.

A slightly irritated twitch grew from Vlad's eye to his lip at the teasing, as he never took it well. Through his teeth the silver haired billionaire growled, "If anyone else had said that to me-"

But even with the worn malice lacing her employer's tired voice, Nomis' kind smile never faltered. "Yes, yes, I know, dearie. You would kill me, but my hot chocolate is too good for you to get rid of me." And with that, the elegant female leapt up from her seat with Vlad's empty mug in her delicate hands as she put the ceramic in the dishwasher. There was a moment of complete silence as she walked back, until Nomis stopped abruptly, looked up at the ceiling where just a floor away was Scaeth's room, and shivered. The billionaire could barely hear Nomis' tiny voice murmur, "That poor, poor child."

A small sigh followed as she drifted back to the chair with a slightly more worn look to her face. She looked at her fatigued employer for a moment, as if cataloging his expression before Nomis cocked her head to one side like a curious toddler. She put a fair hand on Vlad's hand and her beautiful eyes glowed for a moment as she spoke softly in a calmer, therapist-like voice,

"_You are stressed, confused, lost._

_You don't know what to do or what it may cost._

_You don't know why you feel._

_His act of hiding you do steal._

_He will need your help in time,_

_Even though he has done no crime._

_Your history will be his saving grace,_

_But your downfall unless he put you in your place."_

Vlad recoiled at the rhyming and stared at his pretty cook as her eyes dimmed back to their normal brilliance. A thousand questions ran through his head as he looked at Nomis, eyes bulging out of their sockets and his mouth gaping like Daniel after a math test. "What are you talking about-"

"Goodnight Vlad."

Nomis winked and floated down the hall and Vlad just sat there, in that kitchen for a minute before recollecting his sanity as the shock wore off. "Wait!" He yelled as he ran after her, "Wait! Nomis! What were you trying to tell me?"

But she and any answers she carried with her were gone before he got halfway down the darkened hall.

* * *

**_So what did you all think? Good? Terrible? Opinions anyone? I really appreciate the input, ideas, predictions, etc. So, please review! _**

**_kirby_**


	15. People Thinking

_**I don't own Danny Phantom or any song/quotes I use. Enjoy! **_

_**AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THIS STORY! As of August 1st it has been one year!**_

_Just between you and me, _

_Why can't people think?_

_**-The cabbie from Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink"**_

* * *

He was up most of the night (well, all morning, actually) thinking about Nomis' little poem that she spurted off over hot chocolate. And after trying to deduce possible outcomes for most of the time people usually snooze, Vlad decided that he wasn't getting anywhere this sleep deprived state, and he slept for about four hours with intense dreams of a cracked hot chocolate mug being beat to pieces by an Ancient, and then he woke up sweaty and very, very confused at his obscure dreams.

So at around nine thirty in the morning the silver haired man trudged off sleepily down the hall. When Vlad entered the darkened room that Scaeth occupied, he was slightly taken back that the broken teen of last night was on his feet, undoing his bandages from around his abdomen with a grin on his face. Scaeth acknowledged the halfa standing in the door with a slight nod of his head before grabbing a clean black t-shirt from a small duffel bag in the corner that Vlad would admit he hadn't noticed the convict carrying with him when he came to the mansion.

The billionaire watched as the convict slipped on the generic black cotton t-shirt, surprised as he saw no traces of the heart wrenching tears that wracked the lithe teen's frame last night and into the early morning. There were no red, bloodshot whites of his eyes or puffiness of his eyelids where the salty tears flowed mercilessly... The only thing Vlad could really say about Scaeth was that he looked... healthier. The Demon of Shadows seemed to have lessened the severity of the dark circles that rimmed his eyes, and he must have had a shower in the bathroom that was in the vicinity of the red shield, because all of the blue blood that had dried on his skin had been scrubbed off to reveal the extremely pale, scarred flesh. Also, the teen seemed altogether fresher, younger, and less bruised than Vlad remembered seeing him.

Actually, if he didn't know any better, the elder halfa would say he looked like a war torn twin of young Daniel's. It was impeccable now that he really looked at the convict without his cloak on. Both of their bone structure was amazingly similar and if you removed the deep scars from his face, take off the sunglasses, dull the eerie ice blue of Scaeth's eyes to match the deep cerulean of Daniel's, and lighten Scaeth's freakishly black hair that didn't even have the slight dark brown undertones that the young halfa had... You would have identical twins… if Daniel wasn't in ghost form!

Fascinating... Even the body type was typical Daniel. They were both shorter than average and extremely agile and light. But the fact they could be the same person never crossed the silver haired billionaire's mind, because the mannerisms, attitude, power types, and especially that 'Game' of Scaeth's made Vlad's logical mind cross it off of the list of possibilities immediately. There was no way Daniel could have that much power.

But that didn't stop the billionaire from comparing a little.

"Vlad?" Scaeth asked as he put a perfectly polished medallion with a strange CW insignia and threw on his perfectly untarnished cloak over his head, but he kept the hood down off of his head when he spoke to Vlad.

The elder man couldn't help glow a little about the lowering position of the cloak's hood. Was this a sign that Scaeth was finally learning to trust him or was this just common sense to keep it down after Vlad had already seen under it? He shook himself out of his thoughts as he turned his attention to the conversation in front of him. "Good morning, my dear boy."

"Morning." Scaeth returned with a small smile on his countenance that twitched slightly before he bit the side of his lip. He looked a little lost for a minute at what to say. After all, it isn't every day that you were given the shouting at of a life time and then try to be polite to your resident convict the next morning. Subconsiously, Vlad called it the Morning After, because of the extremly awkward aura around the room, but decided against ever saying it again as the name sounded too much like a crappy Vegas movie. Finally, after a long silence of just shifting from side to side Scaeth asked, "Er... Um… How did you sleep?"

The billionaire was put off by the blatantly obvious attempt at small talk and only raised his eyebrow as if to say, 'Really? Small talk?'

And Scaeth smiled a little wider and chuckled at his terrible attempt at small talk before his attention wandered to the shield around the room. The scarlet prison encircling the room was a strong as ever, and Vlad could see the teen's happy demeanor slip away at the sight of it. The teen mumbled something to himself to Vlad asked, "What was that, Scaeth?"

He seemed to contemplate telling the older man whatever he was muttering for a moment before he said, "The Ancients must have been planning this for a long time, a very long time." He gestured at the red barrier. "I haven't seen a shield that I couldn't break out of yet, and it must have taken years to build up the technology. Especially since it is self sufficient... You know, I knew they hated me, but I didn't think it would go to this extreme." Nodding at the sentiment, Vlad was suddenly very interested in that shield. Not the shield itself, obviously. He had the technology for a self running ghost shield for months, but he could really win Scaeth's trust with this. If he just got this shield down for the child and got him some freedom, there would be no telling the trust that would be given to him! Ha! All the elder halfa has to do is bring down a red shield, easy! And it isn't like those Ancients could peg the protective wall being destroyed on him, because Scaeth _**is**_ a powerful entity…

But what if the teenager runs off? There would be nothing holding him back… But… if there was nothing holding Scaeth back besides that shield he would have been long gone on the trek to his ghost portal. After all, any idiot could tell those guards were no matches for the Demon of Shadows. So was this the work of the blackmail that Nomis spoke of earlier that the Ancients were using to keep the child here?

Well, what else would keep him around? It would certainly not be Vlad's hospitality or even his dashingly good looks. No matter how oh so very pretty the man was, Scaeth wouldn't just stay cooped up in a mansion. No… there must be something detrimental behind this. And in his gut, the older halfa knew that whatever blackmail the Ancients have him under will keep him here in Wisconsin. Smirking to himself, Vlad almost giggled like a schoolgirl about his new idea that was slowly formulating itself into a plan. And the first part of that plan was about to unfold.

"Scaeth," he started with a completely composed tone, even when those icy blue eyes gored into his navy orbs (even from behind the sunglasses it was frightening), "I believe you wish to get out of this room, correct?"

The reply was immediate and abruptly direct. "You won't be able to destroy the shield, Vlad."

Ooh! A challenge. Eyes narrowed, the elder halfa smirked and said eerily, "We shall see, my boy. We shall see."

* * *

So, have you ever had that relative that insisted on doing everything and anything around the house on their own? Whether it be setting up the new stove top, figuring out how to change the television back to English from Spanish (especially when the person 'fixing' has not ever spoken a word of Spanish in their life.), or even hanging holiday lights from a roof or even the windows that person will extinguish every possible option until they eventually break down and ask for help.

Vladimir Masters is like that. Vlad is the stubborn, 'No! I can do it myself!' relative… except… After he has wasted every option of fixing (or in this case breaking) the item, he'll just invent newer ways to demolish or 'fix' it. This is the longest any 'simple' task of breaking down a glowing wall has ever taken Vlad and he hasn't given up yet. Even after… _**Three hours. **_

Danny spent three _**entire hours**_ staring at Vlad with an amused expression as the man threw every combination in the book at him. There was electricity, ectoplasm, hand to hand combat, and the man even yelled at it for twenty minutes straight. For awhile the halfa was insulting the shield's mother. He called it a llama, and as Danny started to worry about the man's mental health more than he already has, he realized something so utterly stupid he started laughing hysterically.

"We-"The giggles barely let him finish a sentence, "We- W-w-we are s-s-such… Idiots!"

But… no, no way. The Ancients would never be that stupid, right? After all, they are pretty much ruling over the Ghost Zone now. They wouldn't have slipped up this big, right? There was no way the Ancients could have forgotten that!

And then the extremely frustrated Vlad turned around slowly as if in a horror film and huffed angrily, "What the butter muffins are you laughing about?"

With a cat-like grace, Danny flipped off of the shadowy bed

"They forgot!" The younger one almost screamed in euphoric laughter as he pointed to the wood floor of the bedroom. And to no surprise, Vlad was utterly lost and confused. Why the heck was he pointing to the floor and laughing hysterically? This kid just didn't make any sense! The older man only seemed to get the message when the cloaked figure perched on the floor turned intangible and- Wow. Ancient guards _**are**_ morons.

It must have slipped their minds to put the shield on the floor.

* * *

**Interlude: Skulker Edition**

Skulker would have like to say that he had everything under control, that he had gathered up an army for battle, and that he scoured the Ghost Zone for new recruits. He would also like to say that he had completed every order from the Demon of Shadows and even stayed under the radar of the Ancients. Unfortunately, if he said those things, he would be lying.

This is because while Clockwork's Apprentice was being tortured by the Ancients, that hunk of flying metal was being chased around the Ghost Zone by a horde of Scoahs.

Now, what is a Scoah?

Well, picture a giant sheet, just an ordinary bed sheet. These sickening creatures were the brightest white as they floated through the Ghost Zone at seventy miles per hour, glowing with an aura of fear and pain. Scoahs served under no one, and even the Head Ancient feared the results, should they turn against him. Reason? Scoahs are soulless, evil creatures that feed off of the fear and power of another being. It doesn't matter what kind of organism it gets its source of fuel from, but whatever these sheet-like creatures feed off of must be able to feel. And once a Scoah picks its meal or is given a mission to kill a certain group, it will chase it forever until the Scoah inflicts enough fear on its food to paralyze it and then wrap it up like a spider and absorb the life source of its prey. The Scoah will then leave the withered husk of the corpse where it was killed and go hunt more prey. These creatures were only supposed to be released by the Time Master when he or she thought the world needed to be cleansed of every last creature, for that is what the Scoahs did. They killed every living creature.

So I suppose you can see why Skulker is running, yes?

Fortunately, the Scoahs were not chasing only Skulker; therefore, they had not latched onto him to track him down, but the metal clad Ghost had to witness the pack of about ten Scoahs devourer a ghost that had been running in the group he had been with. The ghost, a little girl about five years old, was overtaken after days of running and hiding with Skulker and a few other nameless ghosts. Her little black pigtails shuddered as she screamed, her entire body was trembling as she fought to get away, but Skulker could not even help the little girl without endangering himself to the Scoahs.

She was obliterated in seconds. Her death, although gruesome and tragic, allowed the Scoahs to forget about the other ghosts she had been in hiding with and Skulker was free of the creatures within a few minutes of them gliding away from the little girl's floating husk.

The metal ghost approached her body as soon as the Scoahs were gone and looked at her body with anger.

She was yet another casualty to the Ancients.

He closed her glazed eyes with respect and was about to move her when a badly cracked crystal watch fell out of a pocket on her coat. Grabbing it, Skulker let out a gasp at the insignia on the front of it. It was a full moon, the symbol of the Demon of Shadows, and it was immediately clear to the metal ghost why the Scoahs had killed her and left.

The Scoahs must have been released for a reason… And Skulker feared that the reason is to purify the world of any aura of the Demon of Shadows. The Ancients must still fear of his influence throughout the Zone, after all, the Clockwork's Apprentice was known for giving out gifts.

So… that means that any person, ghost, or spirit in the world with an object made by the Demon of Shadows was a target. But after all of those people… Who would be next? Probably the high level ghosts like the Demon of Shadows himself, Clockwork, the halfa whelp… and Plasmius.

Fear gripped the hunter as he spun himself toward the elder halfa's portal. After all, Vlad Plasmius may only be his employer and slight friend, but Scoahs were nothing to joke about. Skulker would warn even the halfa whelp of those God forsaken creatures. But after he got those warnings out… he will get to the Demon's orders of gathering an army.

That is, if he was still alive by then.

* * *

**Interlude: Fenton Edition**

**1 day after The Dissection Earth Time**

**Four years and two days ago Ghost Zone time:**

Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton ran frazzled around the house picking up Danny's homework that was strewn from room to room as he had tried to finish it after school yesterday. She couldn't believe how her perfect attendance record was about to be slashed all because her brother is nowhere to be found. How dare he be late! He probably did this on purpose!

"Mom, have you seen Danny?" Jazz yelled to the kitchen, "I am going to be late!"

When the straight 'A' student bustled around the middle class home, she failed to see her mother frown as the female Ghost Hunter cleaned the contents of the sink with a mission in her mind. "No dear, I haven't seen him." With a sigh "No dear, I haven't seen him." With a guilty, lying frown Maddie added to herself, "I haven't seen him at _**all**_."

Jazz scoffed and ran out the door without reading too much into it and hopped into her car whilst leaving her mother in the kitchen to sulk.

Maddie scrubbed the metal with a determination of washing away everything. She wanted rid of that filth in her life, and of the strange emotion that pulled at her motherly heart as she looked at the glowing liquid swirling around the sink. The female scientist sighed and rubbed her arm to her face to wipe the tears that threatened to fall. She knew that emotion that played with her heart, her brain, and her tear ducts; she knew it all too well. It was a rabid, uncontrollable guilt. How could she have let this happen? Her only son! How she would miss him… Her baby boy that uttered his first word, "Mommy," as he gurgled like that happy baby he was.

How oh how could she let her baby be tainted? After all, that disgusting creature that she and Jack had dissected in their basement was not her boy… No. That _**thing**_ that had been living in her house and pretending to be her beloved child was evil, dark, and sinister. It was a crime against nature, that creature, with its DNA so utterly wrong and unnatural. It should not have been alive, so she fixed that. How else could she honor her baby's memory than by killing the creature that took over her innocent little Danny?

Danny… The distraught woman put her nimble finger into the water that was dyed scarlet on one side and an iridescent green on the other from the lab equipment she had been scrubbing with an SOS pad. The red she knew was her baby's blood was so close to that terrible, unnatural green. The slightly off kilter mother sprayed down the green side of the stainless steel but even as she tried to keep the red blood in the sink, it still dripped down the drain along with the green ectoplasm. It was her baby being dragged down by that ghost again! How… how _**dare**_ he?

Another dose of anger was doused as a thought suddenly pushed itself to the forefront of Maddie's mind when she thought of her loss. How was she going to tell Jazz? The poor girl would take it badly, and with all of the stress the red head was under, her mother feared Jazz would do something drastic if she knew the truth, that her brother had been contaminated by the ghost boy and then taken over completely. So what to do? There was no 'letting her down gently' from something like this!

And it was if a light bulb sprang to life over the ghost hunter's head. Without really thinking the thought through, the woman bolted to the corded phone hanging on the wall and dialed the number her son knew so well.

"Hello, Tucker? It's Mrs. Fenton. I need one of your robots."

* * *

**_Thoughts on the Scoahs? Maddie? Vlad? Please let me know what you guys think! Please review!_**

**_Oh, and thank you guys for your reviews last time. They really got me typing. :)_**

**_AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! It's been one year since I published this!_**

**_kirby_**


	16. I Am So Sad I Am So Very Very Sad

_I AM SOO SOOORRRRYYYY! I have been so busy... I will update when I can and hopefully the chapters will be longer than this.._

_I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the songs used before the fic._

* * *

_Sooooo Sad!_

_**~I Am So Sad I Am So Very Very Sad By: Crash and the Boys (Featured in the film Scott Pilgrim Versus the World)**_

* * *

It is funny how such little, minute things can uplift a person's mood. We have all seen it, the little things in life like the smiles on people's faces when daylight savings time rolls around and we set our clocks to give us an extra hour of sleep, or the flowers on a coworker's desk that makes their day all the brighter. It does not make much sense when it is thought about. After all, the main problem hovering ominously over your shoulders like a violent cumulonimbus is still there, but that little wonder that pops up from time to time and it makes a few beams of sunlight pass through those storm clouds. I suppose you can go as far as to say that those few beams of sunlight make living with that heavy cloud worth it. The hope and warmth that forms in your heart with that sunbeam makes a difference in this little hellhole we call life, because life can be beautiful, fascinating, and intriguing, but that doesn't mean it will be most of the time that you are around to live it. So, to make the most of those sunbeams is truly the lesson to unlocking the small amount of happiness stuck in this Earth.

But... you know what? Sometimes those rays of ethereal light are few and far between. The hope, joy, and warmth can dwindle out little by little, leaving the person in a rut of despair for many eons. Their negative energy feeds on itself, replicating like a hidden virus and soon, they aren't even sure why they cope with what they do from day to day. It is a sad, terrible process to watch as it runs the person down until they are just a walking corpse with apathy as their caretaker. By the end most wish for death, because what else do they have to live for? However, this process of deterioration of the soul can be accelerated. Should the person never get a drop of hope or a shimmer of joy, they fade away to nothing.

Naturally, this is the plan for Clockwork.

It fits after all, because to be precise the Demon of Shadow's terms with the Head Ancient were that the Apprentice take on double of the Master's torture and Clockwork be left alive. Technically, the Time Master is still alive and has not been physically tortured at all. So, it was with a joyful heart that the Head Ancient himself escorted the weakened Time Master to the only place that could get the job of deteriorating the Time Master done effectively. With heavy duty, power draining shackles and a staff-less Clockwork, the Head Ancient and his prisoner begin their journey through the Ghost Zone to one of the darkest slums of the Zone.

But the destination is on the other side of the Zone and the way that the Head Ancient insisted on going was one of the most trafficked areas of the specter dwelling land called, The Pentasquare. The Pentasquare is the travel hub of the Ghost Zone that housed a colossal pentagon with four of the points being an entrance to another natural portal the human world. The last point at the very top of the shape was a portal with the door that was locked with slightly cracked chains that zapped anyone that touched it, and no occupant of the Ghost Zone knew where that door led to… Only one creature had ever come to the Ghost Zone through it only a few years ago; however, this creature was feared by many with its pale features and gaunt appearance as it had a crazed look always ready to violently tear one's soul to smithereens, even though the creature was skinnier than a health room's full body skeleton. It had long, sinister fingers that were so thin, quick, and sharp that they -all eighteen of the freakish phalanges- could slide up to someone's neck it a millisecond to squeeze the life out of them before the person knew their death was upon them. You see, this blood thirsty, feral organism has no look of any creature on the Earth or in the Ghost Zone. The closest comparison could be what humans would picture as the cross of the spawn of the devil and a krampus* with the sunken facial features and the pointed tail and giant ram horns protruding intensely from the back of its cranium that was stained different colors to look like blood permanently fixated onto its flesh. It has always been unclear from where and what this beast was born or created from, however, almost every occupant of the Ghost Zone was terrified to their ectoplasm core of the creature.

It was by that pure, unfaltering power and fear that this creature became the Head Ancient.

But that is unimportant as the two powerful entities -one chained and dragged down and one pompously upright with his nose in the air- begin the trek through the most populated place in the Ghost Zone. Now, in normal circumstances this would be extremely bad. After all, Clockwork is the ghosts' unofficial leader and caretaker, and they would not be pleased with the creepy Head Ancient to have him in draining chains whilst being dragged around the Zone like a silent sack of meat.

However, to Clockwork's horror, the usually immensely populated place was as silent as the grave when they flew through it. There were no cocky people of ectoplasm to be seen in the Pentasquare or anywhere in the vicinity, and the Time Master could not hold back a wince at the deserted section of the Zone. In Clockwork's mind, this was surely the first sign of the apocalypse, a silent Ghost Zone. For, the Time Master had never in all his years heard utter desolate silence that tore at his very soul. A sudden feeling of realization crept through the Master as a sense of utter aloneness enraptured him. There were no more of his eager supporters, from the highly annoying –cough Box Ghost cough- to the small and quiet. There were no more of his frustratingly irritating Observants to mess with. But the worst of all was… His dear Apprentice… his son, in all but blood, was gone from his watchful eyes and sent to a life of misery. The Time Ghost barely retained his face of apathy as he thought of his young Danny, his little rescued Apprentice that had reminded him why he does his job and why it is worth it. A small sigh was released as he and the Head Ancient continued to drift forward at a too slow pace as if the Ancient wanted to savor every last piece of this voyage.

"Wonderful isn't it?" The powerful creature growled cheerfully at him, soaking up his pain as if he was Spectra, "The silence is truly delightful, don't you think?"

_Apathy… You don't care…. Calm your mind… _The Time Master thought as he tried to train his features to not twitch at the creature's remarks. It was not worth giving the Ancient the joy of reacting to his jibe of pompous idiocy. Clockwork simply looked directly in front of him in an attempt to ignore the tyrant grasping his chains, and that was about the only form of communication that the two entities allowed to pass between them as the pair of enemies floated briskly through the green wasteland. Although, by the two hour fifteen minutes and forty seventh second mark in their journey -he is the Master of Time, of course he kept track!- Clockwork could see a feral grin perch itself onto the Head Ancient's expression of malice. The creature yanking on those chains around the Time Master seemed to be excited and almost… giddy, which never did bode well for any creature with a soul.

But it wasn't until exactly the seventeenth minute and fifty six second -by Clockwork's internal count- that the two reached the Head Ancient's sadistic destination, a swirling wall of ectoplasm that was a threshold to many a ghosts living hell. It was a place the Time Master knew quite well, _**almost**_ as well as his guarded Apprentice. This dismal place suited only for a nightmare where the sun never shined, the birds never sang, and the sweetened never prospered. It was a place that many had once sought to go through, as it was less crowded than the Pentasquare, but ever since a high powered ghost was rumored to have been obliterated there, no ghost -weak or strong- dared to pass through the portal.

"I believe," Clockwork said in the coolest, most level tone he could muster,"that sending me off to slaughter was not part of the deal you had with the Demon of Shadows."

A smirk cracked the creature's straight face as he let out an enslaved giggle that sent an involuntary shiver of fear up Clockwork's spine. The giggle advanced to a harsh, guttural attempt at a laugh before the Head Ancient was speaking in a wicked tone filled with bad intentions, "What little _**Danny**_ doesn't know won't hurt him… Much."

No… A sudden chill of fear came over the Time Master as he abandoned his calm exterior for the fear and anger that coursed through him. "You stay away from my son! Stay away from him or I-"

But the desperate father's threat was cut off quickly by a wink crammed with malice and ill intent. The Head Ancient circled around the omnipotent ghost, so close that the benevolent ghost could feel the hot, terrifying breath of the creature in front of him. That chill of fear had become a frostbitten slash across Clockwork's heart now as he looked his warden in the eye and held the contact of the familiar orbs of scarlet for the few moments he could until he dropped his gaze with a shiver.

"Oh, _**my dear**_ Clockwork," The Head Ancient crooned seductively in his ear, "don't worry, I will keep an eye on your precious little pretend son.

But the desperate father's threat was cut off quickly by a soup container enveloping him in a blue haze before sucking him into its bowels. Frigid temperatures met him in the tiny prison that only increased as the Head Ancient whispered into the top of the thermos, "Tell the Fenton family I said hello, would you? And don't worry about your pitiful Demon of Shadows. He will be joining you soon.

"After all, I'm sure his real family is just _**dying**_ to see him."

* * *

_***Sigh* There is no way to truly let you all know how deeply sorry I am... I'm so incredibly busy, but I really am trying to get this done. Hopefully I will get the next chapter out before you all lose even more interest (if any of you are there at all). :(**_

_**SORRY!**_

_**Oh, and please- if anybody is still reading- please review!**_

_**kirby**_


	17. Skyfall

**_A dedication to all of my readers that wish me to continue. Thank you so much!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom._**

* * *

_For this is the end  
I've drowned and dreamt this moment  
So overdue I owe them  
Swept away, I'm stolen…_

_Skyfall is where we start  
A thousand miles and poles apart  
Where worlds collide and days are dark  
You may have my number, you can take my name  
But you'll never have my heart_

-Skyfall by Adele

* * *

It was refreshing, to say the least. The illegitimate Apprentice was out of his hair, his mentor taken care of, and everything was falling into place like the planets around the sun. The sun. Yes, it was such a wonderful embodiment of the Head Ancient. It is stronger than any amount of energy on Earth, more powerful than the Ghost King himself or even Clockwork. The sun blazes brilliantly as the Head Ancient sentences hostile entities with his superior intellect. The Head Ancient is the light of intelligence in a sea of stupidity, wielding his power over his subjects as the sun shines upon the Earth.

"Yes," the Head Ancient murmured with a jolly tone infused in the vibrations, "Now, where to first? Ah! I know."

The crazed leader floated through a portal with an air of cockiness surrounding him like an aura. He used no invisibility or any other safety precaution as he entered the human realm. He simply floated through the town with a beaten Fenton Thermos strapped to his hip.

Amity Park flashed by, the park, Casper High, the Nasty Burger, and more before the Head Ancient came to a brick building on the corner. The windows were all shut and had copper bars welded onto them that blushed a supernatural, eerie, ghostly green. The door was a modified door to a bank vault that seemed to be infused with ectoplasmic energy if the color of it was any indication, and there was no door bell, as if the two adults taking residence here already knew that you were there without you having to ring the door bell.

A smirk flew to the Head Ancient's disgusting face before he snickered, "Aw. That's cute, Fenton's. Real cute," before he caressed his spider-like fingers across the metal door. The Fenton's little Ghost Shield present did not even faze him as he phased through the door.

"O' Fentons! O' Fentons!" The Ancient crooned loudly, startling the husband and wife that were tinkering on the sofa, "There seems to be a breech in you security!"

The two sprang up out of their seats, guns alight with a flurry of shots already through the Ancient, but there was no effect as the woman in blood stained blue spandex sent green throwing knives, tasers, and everything in between at the creature. He simply smirked and asked condescendingly, "Is that all? I do have somewhere to be, Madeline."

The feral woman's darkened and she seemed to tense even more and growled, "What do you want spook?"

"Hmm…" the Head Ancient mused, "What do _I _want? No, it is more like, what do _you_ want? You see, Madeline, I have a gift for you."

He tossed the Fenton Thermos off handedly toward her with a smirk as she side stepped and let it fall to the floor. "Don't worry, my dear," he leered at her and waved a hand to keep her momentarily motionless. "I would never harm you."

The Head Ancient crooned softly and caressed her paralyzed cheek. Standing behind her, he leant close to her and whispered in Maddie's ear, "I have one of your son's murderers, my dear lady, in that very thermos. I have the one of the creatures that changed him from your darling boy to the bloodthirsty abomination that you and your husband had to destroy."

His hand traced down her jaw. "In that thermos is one of the ghosts that made sure your portal turned on while your boy was inside. He tainted your flesh and blood and conspired against the very human race, but this ghost is but one of two."

Maddie trembled with fear and anger even in her frozen state as the Ancient continued. "And he can tell you his partner in crime. He needs only a bit of… persuasion that a distraught mother and emotionally destroyed father can provide.

"But no matter…" he shook his head and his smirk grew, "I will leave you to confer with your husband. Only remember Madeline, your son will never rest until his is avenged."

And with a wave of his hand, the Ancient reanimated the ghost hunter before dodging a final ectoblast and exiting the premises.

"Best of luck."

* * *

It had been two weeks at Vlad's mansion, and quite honestly… it was strange for Danny. It was as if fate had just brought him full circle back to his old life, or at least a part of it. Actually, now that the young demon thought about it, this arrangement was what Danny imagined would have occurred if he had accepted the elder half ghost's offer that was made so long ago, minus the Ancients.

But the two occupants of Masters' Mansion were falling into a routine during the two weeks. Danny would get up, shower, gently check his rapidly healing but still sore body, re-bandage anything that needed to be put on the mend, and then the lithe teen would float through the idiotically non-shielded floor to have Nomis' amazingly prepared breakfast before drifting straight back up to his room. The young Time Apprentice would remain in the ruby enveloped prison all day, only leaving during meal times and exchange short, slightly awkward banter with Vlad at the table.

But usually around ten o'clock to ten-thirty at night, every other night, the two torturers from the Ancient Council would arrive from the Ghost Portal and make their way to Danny's room. It would always begin with a nasty shock from the collar and then the teenager would be restrained by shackles that were mounted to the ceiling. (They always left the shackles there afterward, as a silent reminder.)

After he was restrained, they would take out their aggression to their hearts' desire. The Time Apprentice had been beaten with a club, electrocuted, pummeled with fists and steel toed boots, struck across the face, taunted, teased, and verbally abused. It was awful… but nothing the mighty Scaeth could not handle, or at least he hoped.

So every other morning, a new injury was tended to and Danny was beginning to think he should become a doctor with all of his experience. Every night Danny would sit on the black feathery comforter, tensed and waiting for the first burning pain from the Ghoster Toaster around his neck. Paranoia would start around nine-fifty at night and would go on until the two Ancients would arrive.

Besides the first torture session, Vlad did not see any others. It was as if he avoided the room like the Bubonic Plague. Danny did not even know if Vlad was in the castle at ten, but the young demon could not shake off the small, unrealistic hope that the elder half ghost would burst in on a torture session and tell the Ancients that enough was enough… But unrealistic it was…

So why did Danny feel let down after every time Vlad did not show up to save him?

After all, Vlad has no ties to the Demon of Shadows. The billionaire has no ties to Scaeth. No… Vladimir Masters wants Daniel Fenton, not a disowned rat cast out to die in the Ghost Zone. Why would he care about Scaeth at all? He has absolutely no reason to help the teen, at all. Danny wished that he did, though. He wanted Vlad to help him… So much.

But it's like a five year old getting picked up from kindergarten by their parents an hour late. The child feels hurt, abandoned, and like their parents do not love them anymore; but eventually someone comes for that small child and holds the young one in their arms and tells them that everything is okay… But Danny does not have the reassurance, or the person to be there to pick him up… At least not anymore.

He was utterly alone, and this fact was not about to change anytime soon. But at the same time, Vlad had become a larger influe-

_BBRING! _

The Apprentice jumped violently on his bed at the sounding of his self-made alarm clock on the bedside table. It read 9:55PM, and the feeling of a hangman waiting for his demise set in.

_BRRINGG!_

9:57PM

Danny took a deep breath and let the alarm's bell toll, unlike previous times when he hastily shut the clock off. He let it ring, not really listening to it, but letting it fill the all too quiet room with sound. It was as if he was in some sort of meditative state with his eyes closed, breathing deeply in an attempt to keep himself calm.

_BRRRIIINNNG!_

9:59PM

The alarm's screeching was growing exponentially, making the nightstand it rested on quiver. The young man almost reached to turn off the alarm off when he felt something inside him twitch. Paranoia kicked peace out of the door in an instant.

Danny's icy eyes shot open at the exact moment that the door was slammed opened.

* * *

Vlad was having a nice, quiet night in. His study was filled with the allure of the fire roaring in the fireplace. There were no stars in the sky, but a sliver of the moon blazed valiantly outside of the fogged window as if it was lonely, sitting in the night sky by itself with not even the coyotes for company. However, the fragile sliver of the moon was no worry of the billionaire.

He lounged in front of the fire, feet kicked up on an embroidered ottoman, with a pristinely folded copy of Tuesday's newspaper, trying to catch up with the time- so to speak. It was Thursday now, but no matter. He needed the mindless drone of terrible journalist scribbles to send him to sleep tonight.

His sleepy, navy eyes skimmed the sport section, uninterested in the Super bowl as the Packers had not made it this year. He read over the little mindless "Good Deed of the Week" with an eye roll at the stereotypical cat in a tree story before he turned the page to the "Missing Persons".

John Smith- Wanted for 2nd Degree Murder

Leslie Backwater- Kidnapped as of September

Kelsie Yolcott- Runaway

Emilie Fausch- Runaway

Dull. Boring. Just like everything else in the little Wisconsin town. Vlad went to turn the page before realizing that he had covered up some print at the bottom of the page. Removing his thumb, Vlad almost dropped the paper into the fire. Shock ripped through the elder halfa, biting through his poise.

His cell phone was out in a tick of the clock and the billionaire smashed his first speed dial button. The expensive phone shook in his hand as it rang and he jumped when the voice picked up.

"The number you have dialed is unavailable. If you would like to leave a message please wait for the tone."

_Beep._

The billionaire spared the pleasantries. "Maddie? This is Vlad Master. I need to speak with you, or Jasmine, or even Jack. Just call me back. I saw in the newspaper that-"

_BRRRIIINGGG!_

The halfa jumped out of his seat at the sound before finishing his message, "Just call me back, Maddie," and hanging up the phone.

_BRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!_

He jumped again as what sounded like an older alarm clock sounded off, but it was as if the clock was sitting just next to his ear...  
_  
BRRRRIIIIINNNGGGGG!_

The tolls were getting sharper and more frequent, as Vlad clutched his head with sharp eyes dodging around the study, looking for the source of the noise.  
_  
BRRRRIIIINNGGGGG!_

The razor sharp intensity shot through his inner ear again, and without thinking, Vlad ran out of the study with a single thought, "Make it stop," hammering into his very being.

_BRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGGGG!_

The billionaire tore through the mansion, slamming into walls, ramming his shins into furniture, and just running and running and running... And oh... Pain... The pounding, the burning of the blood vessels rushing through his sensitive ears. It was not long before he was practically sprinting blind, unknowing of what he was actually looking for until-

...

Nothing.

...

In an instant, all was silent. The ringing was nonexistent, not even an echo presided over the empty space. Sound waves were gone, as was the pain, except for a deep ache running through his frontal lobe. Pondering this, the halfa removed his long, slightly trembling fingers from his temples. What just happened? What was that bell-

And before Vlad could form another coherent question, an agonized groan echoed with an ethereal quality throughout the hall. The short noise seemed to start at the door exactly to the left of the spot he had stopped in, and the spot the noise stopped in. Strange... But no matter, that is a question for the morning. Vlad grasped the doorknob and turned it quietly before freezing in the doorframe at the sight.

This was Scaeth's room. (How could he have forgotten?) But more shocking was the state of the bed chamber. Two Ancients floated next to these chains that hung down from the ceiling like a hangman's noose, ominously creaking when the young Scaeth writhed as he dangled. There was no blindfold or gag around his face, but the demonic teen had his eyes wrenched shut and appeared as if trying to keep quiet.

It was a... haunting sight to say the least.

From the sliver of space in the doorway, Vlad felt like he had been shot. _This_ was what the Ancients deemed Scaeth "sentence" to be? _Torture_? He knew that Ancients visited around ten o'clock every once in awhile, but to torture the eighteen year old?

What had the child done?

Stunned and a little overwhelmed, the halfa was about to slide the door shut, but when he gave a final glance up at the room... Iced blue orbs stared back.

Vlad froze, tempted to yank the door shut and forget when he saw something. The battle hardened eyes softened, and the eerie glow behind them dimmed until the iced hawk eyes were a gentle, slightly worn cerulean. A jolt of some emotion that he could not identify slammed onto the elder halfa's chest, and a question that was hidden behind those eyes seemed to come forward.

What are you going to do?

Vlad looked deeper into his eyes. There was no pleading in Scaeth's crystal orbs for freedom, just curiosity and maybe a spark of hope. It made Vlad feel even worse for closing the door and strutting with a damaged conscience back to his windowed study. Guilt hit as soon as he sank into the squishy arm chair, but he did not rise. Why should he even care? Scaeth is just a convict being given his just rewards. Yes... the billionaire had done nothing wrong at all.

Sighing, Vlad's gaze skimmed over the window to the sky with no stars. If he did not know any better, the halfa would have said the moon seemed to have dimmed. The shining glow of the only light in the sky looked decrepit. The sliver of the moon hung high in the sky, its light dead to the world.

And Vlad only flinched slightly when he heard Scaeth's shrieks of agony echo through the mansion's walls.

* * *

_**So... uh... A year...**_

_**I guess an apology is in order, but I don't think you guys want to hear about my life. :)**_

_**Anyway, I've finally (finally) got some inspiration back for this fic, and I'm determind to finish it. So, thank you all for pushing me to keep going. I've recieved tons of PMs and reviews yelling at me and you guys are totally right. I bow to my epic readers. (By the way, any predictions on how te story will progress? Theories? I'm curious.)**_

_**Until next time,**_

_**Kirby**_


	18. Clearly See

I don't own Danny Phantom.

_I can see clearly now_

_the rain has gone._

_I can see all articles in my way._

-"I Can See Clearly Now" Johnny Nash

* * *

"Oh butter biscuits!" A trickle of blood oozed down the billionaire's callused, but precisely manicured thumb until the burgundy plasma made a petite pool on the shards of glass decorating the lab table. The thin cut throbbed slightly as the adult half ghost scolded himself for his carelessness with the delicate microscope slides; he just could not focus as of late. Sighing, Vlad took the dust pan to war against the glass until every sparkle was captured in the metal trash can.

Honestly, this lack of center to the man's thinking was getting a little ridiculous. Whether it was his weekly visit to the office or simply enveloping himself in his ecto-research, the halfa just could not get his mind off of the conundrum that cohabitated with the billionaire.

Scaeth.

How many nights had he pondered this entity? How many hours had he tried to figure this ghost out? Frankly, it was an absurd amount of time for a billionaire to be this distracted over a child. He needed to get his thoughts straight and come to some conclusions. Yes… Let the conclusions naturally come through evidence. How terribly cliché… But effective, hopefully. And so he thought like all great thinkers do.

What does he know?

Well, his name is Scaeth; whether this is his real name is yet to be seen, however, he is eighteen years old. He is a very, very young ghost, especially for the age behind his frost bitten eyes. This child has _seen_ things, events that many adults would cower from.

And judging by the scars adorning the young one's form… Well, Vlad would bet his mansion that child abuse is up on that list of things Scaeth has been through. Although, the young specter did say the scar on his eye was from the Head Ancient, but what had he done to provoke that?

Just another question to add to the pile.

And that feeling! The persistent nagging in the back of his skull screamed at his brain that he was _missing_ something. There was some detail, a large detail, which he was overlooking. But what? Scaeth looked nothing like any other ghost or spirit he had come across before that he could remember with the same stature, demeanor, and power level. So, it was not that he just did not recognize the teenager. But there was something he was not getting! Maybe he had seen the young ghost in the Ghost Zone before, perhaps in passing, but he would have remembered those iced blue eyes and dramatic cloak.

But perhaps… it would be an adequate time for the Ghost Files to come in handy. Vlad hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment in contemplation as he curled the end of his silvery locks with his index finger as he typed with the other hand. To the machines he barked, "File 135790864-2. Open. Password 43214563-9573723. Present document."

Windows opened and closed at his command as documents were skimmed. Records of each ghost know to him in the Zone zoomed around the screen waiting to be read, eliminating the more popular ghosts such as Skulker, Ember, Desiree, and Fright Knight automatically. Besides, if Scaeth was the Fright Knight, they were going to need a serious talk.

Klemper? No.

Frostbite? No.

Johnny 13? No.

Bertrand and Spectra? No.

Undergrowth? No.

Skulker? No.

Box ghost? _Heck_ no.

Daniel Phantom/Fenton? Yeah, _right_.

The list went on, each ghost being eliminated until a list of nobodies was left. Nameless ghosts were left with only a description of their appearance and powers in the small blue box on the screen. After deleting all of the female choices, Vlad continued with taking the 'faceless ghost with trench coat' off of the list and the dog that used to follow Daniel around. Finally, the halfa was left with a single blue window over a midnight screen. In this window was a little blurb from a few years ago describing one of his little treks around the Ghost Zone for rare, powerful antiquities.

And as he read, a memory that had been pushed out of the forefront of his mind rose from the ashes. The little description described the road to the Reality Gauntlet that Vlad had been searching for (for no avail, I'm afraid, for the gauntlet had already been 'thrown down', so to speak) and the path he took past the Carnivorous Caverns to the East end of the Zone. Then, a little detail was scrawled in at the bottom of the paper on a sideways slant, as if he had forgotten about it and then hurriedly added it later to the notes.

_Dying entity met near Fenton portal. Ectoplasm everywhere, prognosis was bad, too busy to help entity. Heavy facial bruising. Abdomen seemed to have large incision down the middle and frozen over. Thin build. Blue eyes. Shirt caught in injury when lifted. Exhausted. Survival level low. Threat level: 0._

It was Scaeth. It had to be! But… Why was he outside the Fenton portal? And those injuries… Was he just passing through on the human side or what? Did he need treatment from human doctors? No… perhaps he obtained the injuries there-

Oh.

_Oh._

Horror shuddered through Vlad's form and he removed his hand from the monitor and placed it on his heart. Dread pooled in the depths of his stomach as he stood, coming to the terrible twist in his characterization of this entity living in his mansion. This realization changed _everything_. The Fenton Portal, the perfectly clean injuries, the copious amounts of blood… The lack of energy to fight him when he had lifted him up at their first encounter… It all added up to one conclusion.

Maddie and Jack had tortured the boy.

The room seemed to lose oxygen in a millisecond. Shock vibrated through the metal walls of the laboratory until the silver haired man was able to speak.

"Dear Lord," Vlad breathed and the halfa just stared at the window, lost in his attempt to picture this happening. He tried to picture his dear, sweet Madeline utterly mutilating the Demon of Shadows on the cold metal dissection table with her barbaric meat of a husband bumbling at her side.

Vlad was ashamed to say that he could picture it. He could see the metal scraping into the bone, he could see the "Y" incision down Scaeth's from as if he were a human cadaver. He could see the child being taken apart 'molecule by molecule' and the complete destruction of the small teenager's form.

And it made him… Angry.

His pulse shot up as he moved past horror and right into fury. How _dare _they? What could Scaeth possibly have done to deserve _that_? It was inhumane! It was atrocious, despicable, degraded, shameful, and vile! No amount of science was worth torturing this young soul. This act of violence was not for science… This was petty revenge for simply _being, existing_.

And to do this with children in the house! If Daniel had found out- Oh dear God….

Daniel.

Strong, unadulterated, innocent, immature, Daniel.

There was no way he could not have known there was a ghost being carved as though he was Jack's ham in the basement. And now with what Vlad had seen in the newspaper the other night… Maddie had returned his call, reassuring him that the sudden "Danny Fenton: Missing" post was a mistake made by Jack that the two of them had a big laugh about; however, now Vlad could not be sure anymore.

What if they knew Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton were one and the same?

After all, Daniel could not have kept the secret long after Scaeth was tortured, and someone had to have let the Demon of Shadows go to be free of Madeline. Maddie and Jack couldn't not know Danny's secret now. He was either in hiding, seriously injured, or… gone.

He growled slightly before roaring with fury, "How _DARE_ they?!"

Vlad shook with rage, snarling as he threw the microscope he had been working with against the opposing wall. It smashed into a million pieces, as did his calm demeanor. Denting the metal lab table with a livid downward striking fist of fury, the clang of the table revved the halfa's pulse even more, throwing the billionaire into a tornado of wrath.

"Computer!" Vlad snapped as if needing someone to yell to and exclaimed, "Find Hybrid: Daniel "Danny" Fenton, age fourteen!"

A holographic Maddie appeared. "As you wish shnucklepuss!"

Anger not completely dissipated, Vlad snarled, "Computer: delete Maddie hologram and continue with search."

And so it was done.

The computer searched the globe and the Ghost Zone for a Daniel "Danny" Fenton with everything: satellites, CCTV cameras, and every surveillance camera in the world. Everywhere was searched thoroughly before seven words devastated the elder halfa forever.

_No results found. Hybrid does not exist._

* * *

_Ghost Zone (Same time): Scoahs chase Skulker_

We sees him.

We **_sees_** him. Him flee.

We smellses green, green tasty. Him looks good, him very green.

Run! Run! Run! Little ghosties run!

We is chasing, but we is not running. We chases, we feedses. Ghosties is dirty. Ghosties needses cleaning. They is soiled.

Soiled time. Messy ghostsies. Messy fleshies. Fleshies too messy to eatses. We meetses the fleshies with blueses and orangeses clotheses and toy gunses. They don'ts hurtses Scoahses. They no likeses the greensies or the Scoahses, but we careses not. We needses no fleshies.

Ghosties messes time, so ghosties musts dies. Ghosties tasty. Ghosties musts dies.

The metal ghostie flees fast, faster and greener than rest. Tasty… but we cans nots catchses.

We chases. We chases and chases. Him not so fasts after dayses. Him scaredes. Very scaredes. We chases and chases and chases.

We tired. We needses green. Greensie not as easys to catch like other greensies. We needses greensies. We needses it. We needses it. We needses it.

WE NEEDSES GREENSIES!

We turnses on others. Other Scoahses have little greensies. We needses more. They tastses good. Five Scoahses eatses other Scoahses. Needses more greensies.

Metal ghostie get faster agains. We slows and ghosties goes through swirlieses. Swirlieses too far. We scaredses of swirlies. We feelses anger. It scareses Scoah.

Needses more greensies. Need more greensides.

Cold greensies next. Frozen greensies we haves not tried. Frostbite are hises namesie.

We will goes. We goes to the cold greensies with more bluesies than greensides. They is greensies, but they uses bluesies to hurtses the Scoahses. But we hungries.

We wantses the greensides and the bestest, tastiestes greensie…. We mustses findses hims. He is ourses prizes. We wants him.

Danny Phantomses.

* * *

_**Er... well... At least the chapter is out, right? :) Thank you guys so much for your reviews! I'm sorry I haven't replied to any of them lately, but I wanted to get this chapter out.**_

_**Please let me know what you think!**_

_**kirby**_


	19. I Know What You Did in the Dark

I do not own Danny Phantom.

BIG THANKS TO VEDISDRAGON for doing an epic rendition of Scaeth on deviant art. Here's the link! art/I-m-Inevitable-Fanart-342421990 (I can't believe I have fanart! Squeels!)

I Know What You Did in the Dark

_All the writers keep writing what they write, write_  
_Somewhere another pretty vein just died_  
_I've got the scars from tomorrow and_  
_I wish you could see, see_  
_That you're the antidote to everything except for me, me_

**-"My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark" Fall Out Boy**

* * *

"Does not exist?" Vlad murmured with shock. He grasped the table to his right, holding himself up as he trembled, shivers running up and down his figure. Does not exist… Does not exist.

_Halfa does not exist._

Was that supposed to mean that Daniel was… dead? Was this program telling him that the only person that he could still care for in this world was gone?

_Does not exist… _

He checked the Ghost Zone as well as Daniel could have been hiding there, but to no young half ghost was just… Gone. Poof. Disappeared. Even if he was hurt -or heaven forbid dead- the computer would have found him, so where is he? It is not as if Daniel could just rip apart and piece together himself to become a different person entirely! It was if the young one had just disintegrated! It was if the things that made up Daniel Fenton just evaporated into molecules-

Wait a moment.

Vlad gripped the table harder, so hard that his fingers went from red to white in an instant. His heart pounded and his pulse raced as he felt a clawing in his gut. Something boiled and churned internally as his thoughts reached conclusion that he had never foreseen actually occurring in his wildest dreams. Horror reeled. Shock skipped a beat. Anger bubbled. Rage flourished. Fury twitched, ready to jump.

Molecules. _Molecules._

The steel table dented under his grip, but Vlad paid it no mind. He was shaking with unresolved fury now. Righteous fury! It was under his skin, allowing a red smattering to appear on the paled complexion until the halfa's face was redder than a volcano in the summer.

What was it Jack had said he would do when he got his hands on a ghost?

He would rip it apart _molecule by molecule._

The Missing Persons add in the paper, Maddie's discouragement of Vlad to look any further into it…. It added up.

When Danny must have freed Scaeth from the Fentons… They would have come to the realization that their son was a sympathizer of ghosts. It would not be hard to take the leap from Danny Fenton to Danny Phantom after the seed of doubt was planted in their minds. Daniel may have even confessed to them as well; perhaps feeling guilty about lying to them for so long, but Vlad knew now, how they must have reacted. He could see the turmoil in his mind, the events fabricating themselves for his understanding.

He could see chaos erupt as Daniel told them. He could sense the ecto-guns as they were raised to the emotionally spent teenager. He could visualize Daniel's face full of horror, morphing into a defeated mask of full betrayal. He could see Maddie being corrupted by grief for her pure son being perhaps…. _contaminated_ by ghosts. Vlad could see the blood as they forced Daniel into ghost form and slashing him open until he was fully mutilated. He could hear his would-be-apprentice's screams and the light fading from his eyes.

"NO!" The elder halfa roared with passionate, thundering anger ripping through his being as the scalpel had through Daniel's. Jack would pay for this. Maddie would pay for this. They have done something unforgivable, something truly reserved for beings in the final level of hell. They had killed their own son.

This was even Scaeth's fault. If the Demon of Shadows had not been captured, Daniel would have never freed him and his malevolent parents would not have murdered him in cold blood. This was his fault.

He would pay as well, after Vlad got his information.

Morphing into Plasmius, Vlad shot through the ceiling until he reached the third floor, and bolted to the room at the end of the hall, the darkest room in the mansion that held that… that _murderer_. He did not even bother to knock, but slammed the door open, smashing a small hole where the door knob flew through the wall.

"You!" The deranged half ghost roared, without pausing to register anything about the room he had stepped into. Vlad did not realize the state of the blue encrusted black carpet below a dangling form of the Demon of Shadows. He did not seem to see that the Ancients had not released Scaeth from his shackles, but left him to hang like a broken monkey with his head on his chest in the middle of the room. The elder half ghost also did not seem to perceive that it appeared as if Scaeth was straining to remain conscious, not really listening to his yells. Not, that this stopped the billionaire.

"What did you do to Daniel?!" He screamed, shaking the boy, "Daniel! The boy that freed you from the hunters, the Fentons. His name is Danny Fenton! What happened to him?!"

Growling, Vlad grabbed the back of Scaeth's hair and wretched his head up none too gently, and he swept the hood back so he could look the Demon in the eyes. Scaeth's brow furrowed and cracked his eyes open a millimeter. The thin sliver of blue looked faded, as if something had been drained from his soul.

"V-vlad?" He croaked, and his voice hoarse and scratchy. The chains clanged together as he wriggled slightly in discomfort. "What's wrong?"

"I need to know what happened to him!" Vlad yelled again, "Daniel! I need to know what happened to Daniel Fenton!"

Scaeth lurched at the name in shock, causing one of his shoulders to snap out of place with a disgusting _crack!_ The billionaire did not respond to the injury or the cry of pain emanating from the young ghost's lungs. Vlad did not fail to notice the tremor in the teen's hands start. Small, pained tears trailed down a cheek that looked like it had been struck maybe an hour ago as the blue bruising had started erupting on the skin.

"Danny F-f-fenton?" The teen whispered, although to Vlad's ear it came out as more of a whimper. It sounded as if that very name hurt him more than the dislocated shoulder. "You know… You know he isn't at Fenton Works?"

"Yes!" The halfa spat back vehemently. "Now tell me where he is! When he freed you from the Fentons, where did he go?"

Now completely awake, confusion and utter terror competed for dominance on Scaeth's scarred face before he muttered, "How do you know I was at Fenton Works? How do you know, that I'm- that I know Danny?"

An eyebrow was raised at the stutter, but that was all. The elder man was just too upset to truly pay attention. "I saw you," he started quickly, "outside the Fenton portal about a month ago. You were injured."

"No, I was dying," Scaeth snapped back as he swayed, "but I was not released by Danny Fenton." The pained teenager looked frustrated and honestly, little scared behind the tired eyes. Was Vlad close to uncovering something here? What did Scaeth have to hide?

"But you knew that he isn't at Fenton Works!" Vlad pushed with crazed eyes, "How did you know he isn't at home?!"

To punctuate this question, the livid half ghost slammed his fist into the dislocated shoulder, making the child scream in tortured pain until his shrieks turned to whimpers and a glint of heartbreaking hurt shone in Scaeth's eyes. Tears trickled down his face again, but Vlad felt a tug in his gut that told him the tears were more from being emotionally pained than from being bodily harm. Guilt crept in and then…

Silence.

The trembling of Scaeth's hands quickened in the shackles and the teenager closed his eyes in defeat. There was something that happened in those few seconds… Something that Vlad would look back on and not truly be able to describe. The Demon of Shadows clenched his trembling, white hands; bit his lower lip, and exhaled a deep breath as the air thickened with a tension stronger than had ever before been between the two.

Scaeth opened his eyes and wiped away the drying tear streaks on his upper sleeve with a strange amount of dignity for a man chained up. He looked over Vlad's shoulders to a bag that the Demon had brought with him. The half ghost turned around and followed his gaze to a small piece of purple fabric sticking out of the duffle bag.

A small whisper hydrated the silence. "Will you get it for me?" Scaeth asked softly, a wounded tone in his hoarse voice that invoked more pity from the halfa than Vlad would let on.

The elder halfa strode over to it, and very carefully took the band of purple in his hands and pulled on it to reveal a medallion hanging by a strong purple ribbon. An ornate "CW" was printed on the front and a sense of something strange washed over Vlad when he picked it up. He could not name the feeling, only that it was warm and soft. It was something he had not felt for quite a long time, and he almost did not let it go. But he did. The billionaire put the medallion in the teenager's shaky grasp, and Scaeth exhaled a very shaky, sob-like sigh.

It was a few more moments before he was ready to speak, but when he did, Scaeth's voice was stronger. "I had hoped that you would never connect the dots," the teenager started, "I didn't want to involve you, but I can see now that I have to."

Scaeth bored his eyes into Vlad's, inner strength vibrating through the Demon of Shadows. This was important, and the billionaire could feel it. He was going to get answers, finally.

"But Vlad," he said, "You must know… that after I tell you this information, there is no turning back."

The elder half ghost responded quickly, not really even having to think on the issue. "I need to know."

Scaeth nodded and rubbed the medallion in his shackled hand before he continued. "I need to tell you something else first," he began, "and it will all circle back to Danny. I need you to just let me talk for awhile, okay?"

A nod.

"You were right when you said that I was tortured by the F-fentons," Scaeth stuttered slightly, "but I was not rescued. They let me go, they couldn't bear to kill me-"

Glee shot up into Vlad's cold heart. And he interjected, "So Danny is-"

The Demon waved him off. "Let me finish, Vlad… They couldn't bear to kill me, but left me bleeding out with a very low chance of survival." Scaeth shuddered at the memory, making his entire body move as he was still suspended off of the floor. "But I knew someone who could help me."

"Clockwork," Vlad answered, remembering the utter meltdown the teen had supposedly in private a week ago.

"I'm not even going to ask how you knew that," Scaeth said with exasperation, "But yeah, it took forever, but I recovered in his tower for a year and I didn't leave. He took me in and I became his apprentice, but the Head Ancient was upset." Malice infused in the teenager's voice at the mention of the Head Ancient. "Clockwork hadn't followed protocol for choosing an apprentice. I wasn't older than fifty as per regulations and I was not approved of by the Ancients because of what I am.

"I left that meeting with a new scar," he gestured to the scar running through his eye, "And a… well… the Head Ancient called it penance."

Scaeth's iced eyes shone an iridescent blue for a moment and a shadow molded into the form of a key in front of Vlad. "I became his power source in a way. This power over the shadows is a side effect of what the Head Ancient did to me."

The key replicated and they slid into the locks on each of the shackles. Turning with a click, Scaeth fell to the floor, landing in a crouch, which he sat out of onto the floor. Trying to be discreet, he quickly braced himself and snapped his shoulder back into place with a few pained gasps, frosting it over with some ice, and dismissing it, patting the clean carpet on one side and motioned for Vlad to sit. The billionaire pulled over an armchair and took a seat.

Rolling his eyes with the slight shake of his head, Scaeth continued, "I didn't notice it until later, what he did, but Clockwork was scared, I could tell. He was afraid the Head Ancient had done something terrible to me, and he had.

"You remember the incident in your lab? I went crazy for a moment and destroyed someone that made me upset. That is my curse." The teenager paused and Vlad blinked, and restrained himself from interrupting. Scaeth seemed to understand and gave him a small smile that disappeared as soon as he carried on with speaking. "When I get angry, a piece of me morphed by the Head Ancient takes control and takes the soul of the one it plays its Game with. I don't know where that soul goes, but you've seen the Game… I lose complete control of myself and it isn't me anymore. It's scary."

"Yes," Vlad answered before thinking. It was frightening, especially now knowing that the Head Ancient was behind it. Morphing a personality? Frankly, that's terrifying. But Vlad couldn't help being a little jealous of the power that must be flowing through the boy. Scaeth could level forests, destroy worlds with his power… but he under utilizes it.

"But anyway," Scaeth continued while running his fingers through his hair, "When Clockwork and I worked out what the Head Ancient had done, Clockwork was furious, but could do nothing except keep me from getting angry. I isolated myself in that tower with Clockwork until he decided I had enough control to go about my duties outside.

"I helped almost every ghost in the Ghost Zone and I kept things how they should be…" Scaeth trailed off and Vlad, fascinated, stayed silent while the Demon seemed lost in his thoughts. Vlad watched as Scaeth's eyebrows furrowed and shadows fell under his eyes.

Voice cracking, Scaeth murmured, "And then I died."

Vlad's red orbs widened as he nearly slid off of the edge of his chair. The billionaire tried to interpolate, but Scaeth gestured for him not to speak again. Vlad watched the teen on the floor fiddle with that "CW" (probably Clockwork's, now that he thought about it) medallion.

"It was my eighteenth birthday and Clockwork wanted to surprise me," the teenager had a bitter… almost sweetly grim smile on his face with sorrow etched into the rest of his facial features. "He took me into the human world and we watched the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, in Manitoba. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen… and the best birthday present I had ever gotten. The lights… were fantastic, but I got so much more than just that." Emotion filled the teen's voice Vlad was surprised he did not start tearing up. "Around sunrise we got up to leave. I felt a tap on my shoulder and then something was going through my stomach. I didn't have time to react, but I did see who was holding the dagger; it was the Head Ancient."

Sympathy welled up in the pit of Vlad's stomach, especially as Scaeth's hand unconsciously moved to his stomach right above his naval as if reliving the stabbing. Eighteen years old and he has gone through a lot… But where did Danny fit into this?

"The blade was imbedded with poison and Clockwork saved me only after I left this plane of existence." Scaeth seemed to pick his words carefully, "He reversed time, I suppose you could say, and gave me the antidote just in time. Naturally the Head Ancient wasn't pleased. I was supposed to die and Clockwork saved me.

"When I woke up, the Head Ancient had taken Clockwork into custody and we were in court the next day." Another shudder swam through the teenager, "It was… rough. They wouldn't let us speak to each other and in the end… It was decided that Clockwork would be sentenced to 'e-extermination', but I couldn't stand by and watch him die. So I offered myself and here I am."

Confusion darkened Vlad's countenance, but as he thought about what Scaeth had said, it made more sense. Why else would the Ancients torture him? But there was one question he still could not answer.

"Why," Vlad asked, "is my mansion where your punishment must be served? Why not Walker's jail or somewhere else?"

Scaeth smiled a small, but slightly less upset smile. "This is where your initial question comes in, Vlad. You see… the Ancients don't want me around, so they put me with someone who they thought would kill me i.e. you."

This still made no sense.

"But why me?" The elder half ghost pressed, "We have absolutely no connection whatsoever!"

The teenager just shook his head and squeezed the medallion until his hands turned white. The terror seemed to have worn off the boy, but anxiety must have remained through the whole story, for he was still shaking rather violently.

Softly, Scaeth responded, "Yes we do, Vlad. You and I have a very strong connection, one that spans over trivial personality conflictions. Our connection is strong Vlad. We are, after all…" The child paused, took a breath, and seemed to pick his words with great importance. It was as if the Demon of Shadows was trying to determine whether or not to drop an atomic bomb with as much care as he took.

"We _are_ the only ones of our kind."

At first, Vlad did not get it. He sat there with a contemplative expression on his face as Scaeth looked like he was preparing for a counter-strike. It was only after a few awkward moments that the equations appeared and in an instant of logic, he got it.

Vlad + Daniel = two half ghosts

Scaeth + Vlad + Daniel ≠ two half ghosts

Vlad ≠ Scaeth

So Scaeth must be…

"Daniel…?" Vlad stared at the teenager hunched over on the carpet. He was astonished, bewildered, and everything in between. How was this happening? There was no way that this was happening.. No way. No. Daniel couldn't be Scaeth-

"Hey Fruitloop," Scae- no… It was Daniel, remarked softly, looking at the floor with something akin to guilt weighing down shadows on his face.

Vlad jumped at the nickname, shocked and not sure what to do, but over all of that was shame. How could he have been so foolish, so thoughtless? Everything about Scaeth _screamed_ Danny and he had not even looked into it. It was so obvious now… He felt like a fool. He was an utter idiot. How could he not have seen? It was in front of him the entire time and-

A thought sprang to the surface of Vlad's brain. "I let them torture you," he muttered with horror, but Danny waved his comment off.

"And you will continue to do so! I need the Ancients to think I'm being a good little boy obeying orders here." Danny suddenly frowned a guilt filled frown, "I'm sorry, Vlad." He grimaced to the floor, "I didn't want to bring you into this, but I need help."

With this statement of utter vulnerability, of needing help, Vlad could truly see the connection between Scaeth and Danny. And at the same time, Vlad realized, he felt… Relief. Daniel was not dead, or as close to alive as he would get, but at the same time… Maddie and Jack had beaten him mercilessly. The elder half ghost sank off of the armchair until he was sitting kneeling knee to knee with the young halfa. He lifted Danny's chin and took a good look at a teenager that he used to know so well, and then just threw the script out the window and enveloped him in a hug. It was awkward and strange, but it made Vlad feel better and he suspected it made the young adult in his arms feel the same.

They stayed like that for a few seconds and then all the emotion built up just exploded out of Danny in a wave of sobs. Vlad sat there for an excruciating minute, not knowing what to do and then tentatively rubbed Danny's back soothingly until the sobs became quiet cries.

As the duo separated, the elder half ghost looked into those icy eyes; the eyes that he could see would have been a deep cerulean long ago…. When the world was not such a terrible place for Danny to be a part of. Vlad could see the halfa behind those eyes as he said softly, "I'm so sorry Daniel. This should not have happened to you-"

"No!" Danny cut him off with a resolute yell, determination set in his gaze, "This needed to happen. The Head Ancient has been in power for too long and he needs to be gotten rid of, which is where I need your help."

"Taking on the Head Ancient, Daniel?" Vlad asked with raised eyebrows, "You will never win. That is a foolish man's dream."

The elder man watched as Danny's eyes steeled. Fortitude and willpower leveled Vlad as it radiated from the broken teenager. Something so strong came from this child, and the words he spoke next only reinforced it.

"Well, then…" The younger half ghost commented, "I suppose the real question is: will you help the royal fool?"

It was silent for awhile and Danny must have felt as if he was losing Vlad, for he said, "I'm not the Danny you once knew, I know, but… Will you stand with me Uncle Vlad?"

And after that was said, Vlad could really see nothing else to say.

"Of course I will."

They spoke for a few minutes more, but then both resolved to speak in the morning, as neither of them were going anywhere. And as Vlad left the room, Danny smiled as hope rose in his chest for the first time in quite a long while. Things were starting to turn in his favor and in that moment, nothing could have gone wrong. Vlad, a very powerful half ghost, was on his side and they actually were getting along! Danny felt reassurance and he felt happy and nothing could bring him down.

Even the land itself outside seemed happy for him. The late, late night or perhaps early morning seemed restful, peaceful even. The cold settled over the landscape like a blanket and in the sky there were no clouds. In the very far corner of the heavens rested a crescent moon and a single star pulsing comfortingly beside it where before there had been none. It was all very uplifting and Danny went to bed with a smile on his face.

However, as he drifted out of consciousness, a shadow that had melted inconspicuously into the corner opened its glowing red eyes and left the room with a smirk.

* * *

_So... this is the chapter I've been waiting to send out for a long time... I really hope you guys enjoyed it as the story takes a turn. Things will start happening very quickly now. (As should updates. :) ) _

_So please let me know what you think._ _And don't worry. There are still some questions you all will have, but they will be answered... Eventually. ;)_

_Kirby_


	20. Feathery Hopes

_I don't own Danny Phantom or Emily Dickinson... because that's weird._

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all."

-Emily Dickinson

* * *

It is very, very strange, what a single revelation can change in huge amounts in one's life while keeping everything the intact and strangely similar at the same time. Scaeth is Daniel; Daniel is Scaeth. This is the new eye-opener, still shocking and infantile in its familiarity. But at the same time… It is a recognizable idea, that Daniel Fenton is masquerading as someone different.

But that does not mean that breakfast the next morning was not awkward.

The motherly cook, Nomis, with two portions of steaming, homemade waffles in hand, scurried around the murky silence, thick with the question of what to do next. Her kind, motherly face smiled down at the young half ghost and handed Daniel a generous mug full of hot chocolate topped with gently whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate sprinkles.

The he returned her smile with a small murmur of, "Thanks," and she and her silent assistant tread lightly into the next room, leaving the two halfas alone.

Both dug into their food like birds, tentatively picking at the pile of waffles to compensate for the lack of conversation. But even as Daniel ate in the painfully quiet kitchen, the billionaire could see his mind wander. Cracks behind the teen's strong façade had been appearing since Scaeth arrived, but now the emotion was all behind the eyes. All behind the iced eyes that were a few shades colder and brighter than Daniel's cerulean eyes that he knew so well.

Hmm… Vlad sensed small talk!

"Your eyes," he started, "have they changed color from their original hue? I don't quite remember them being so… bright."

The young halfa snorted with amusement at the horribly forced attempt at conversation, but he humored the man all the same. "It's from a herb poultice that Clockwork made when after I ended up on his doorstep. It, along with Clockwork's natural healing talents, kept me alive and the blue is a side-effect. It turned all of my blood blue as well."

"Oh," Vlad replied conversationally, "I thought it would have been from your ice core, but I suppose that makes a little more sense. Do you know which herbs he used?"

"Never asked."

Vlad nodded, feeling the half formed conversation take a knife to the gut. The awkward silence was back again.

He watched as Daniel swirled the syrup around his waffles a few times and sipped at his rapidly cooling hot chocolate. The boy picked at his food and seemed deep in thought for a moment until he abruptly set his fork down and sighed.

"All right, we need to stop wasting time," Daniel shook his head and turned his full attention to the billionaire. The younger man's eyes were intense, bordering on a glare as he spoke. "There's something deeper here, something I hoped you would never need to understand."

Vlad ruffled. This sounded like a speech one would give to an ignorant child, knowing nothing about the cruelty of the world. He almost interrupted, but stopped himself as Daniel continued.

"But Vlad, I want you to stay out of it."

In an instant, the self control was gone and the elder halfa interjected. "Daniel-" But the teen would not let him finish.

Cutting him off, Daniel persisted. "I want you to stay out of this so badly, but I know it isn't possible anymore." He ran a slightly shaky hand through his raven locks. "The Head Ancient got you involved the moment he sent me here.

"And you said that you would help me, so I'm asking for it." There was quickening of his voice as he went on. "I have no plan, but I need to figure out what is going on in the Ghost Zone. It's dying; I can feel it."

Skepticism shot up the billionaire's spine. A world does not simply die off. Where was Daniel getting this from? Voicing his concerns, the older man got a quick response back.

"It's unbalanced without a Time Master; events are happening that shouldn't and people are dying that shouldn't." A shudder seemed to wrack the younger halfa as he spoke now. He looked like a child that was recounting a ghost story. "The Head Ancient did something... I don't know what, but... ghosts are suffering, fading."

Grief came up from behind Daniel's glowing eyes as they watered slightly. A lost look fell over his countenance as he whispered, "And I need to find out what it is."

"Perhaps he released some creature, an invasive species." Vlad piped in, hoping for a spark of something in the child's eyes. Instead another shudder ran through his body.

Daniel bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "The only creatures I can think of," he started, "are... Nevermind."

He trailed off; a sickened look festered on his face that morphed into unadulterated horror. "Oh my God…They have the staff," Daniel muttered and brought his head to rest in his palms. "That idiot let them out… Oh God…"

Worry trickled into Vlad's stomach as butterflies took flight at the terror on the young man's face. Daniel shuddered and shook with what Vlad assumed to be fear until the halfa looked up with a furiously red face. He smashed a fist to the table before growling, "How _dare _they?"

Tentatively, the elder man looked into the youth's angry eyes and asked, "What?"

Grasping the table with white knuckles, Daniel rambled through gritted teeth. "Death, plague, curse. They are the last resort of the Time Keeper."

The young Apprentice scowled as he continued. "They purge when turmoil and apocalypse wipes everything good in the world out. They are given a task and they won't stop until it's done. The last time they were used, there were dinosaurs. I've seen it. A meteor didn't wipe out an entire biosphere; _They _did… on the order of the first Time Master. But the Head Ancient can't be using them... it's suicide!"

_**SMASH!**_

Daniel was already in the air as he snapped the hood of his cloak up. Leaping across the table, he knocked the elder man out of his chair and sent them rolling on the floor. Surprise bubbled out of Vlad as he jumped to his feet, rings spreading up and down his body to reveal Vlad Plasmius as he fell into a defensive stance. Charging his fists with a tinted red ectoplasm, Plasmius stepped forward, ready to fight, but it was not needed.

The cloaked half ghost had already shot over to the figure on top of the very thoroughly smashed table and hoisted him up. A grin plastered onto the young one's face as he helped the intruding ghost to his feet.

"Hello Skulker."

* * *

A slither of unrest slipped down the young apprentice's spine as he looked at the armored ghost getting up from the broken dining table with fatigued limbs. A crazed look shot across Skulker's countenance as he got to his feet, until he saw the cloaked figure next to Vlad a froze.

"Time Apprentice?" He breathed, astonishment bleeding through the cold tone of his echoing voice. The metal ghost grasped a nearby counter top and gripped it like a dead man to thin fibers of life. If he were alive, Danny would have expected him to pale.

A fondness slid into the teen's beaten heart as he took a step to stand next to the hunter. A small smile rose to Danny's eyes and for a moment... he was the Demon of Shadows, Clockwork's Apprentice, once more.

"Hello Skulker," the young halfa greeted softly, joy swelling up in his gut.

The robotic ghost grasped the counter with more strength as he muttered, "You're alive."

"Why would I be dead? You saw me being paraded around the Zone like everyone else."

Skulker said nothing, but solemnly held out a dusty pocket watch with a brilliant full moon shining with pride on the front. He opened the clasp on the front and open popped a watch with a shattered screen. A look of shock passed over him as the familiarity did. The watch... It was the one he gave to the little girl... Danny took it into his pallid palm a sense of dread filling his being-

"Ah!" The halfa jolted as a shot of pain shot through his fingertips not unlike an electric shock. The pocket watch fell to the floor and cracked like a broken neck. Vlad, who had been skulking behind the teenager, jumped next to him, kicking the watch across the floor of the kitchen with his leather shoes as he did.

"I'm all right," Danny assured the pair, gripping his trembling wrist with his other hand. But he was not all right. A sickly green circle had formed on his flesh, burning with a vengeance as a sense of evil and disease permeated his heart that was only countered by the firm hand of the elder halfa on his shoulder.

"They're hunting." The Apprentice remarked as he met Skulker's red eyes with his own fearless blue. It wasn't a question, a mere fact stated, but from the corner of his eye Danny saw a fire light in Vlad's eyes and his grip tightened.

Skulker nodded, a morose gleam inhabiting his movements.

The air was silent for a moment as the young apprentice stared at the tainted watch across the room. The air shuddered with Danny's flat voice. "The little girl," he demanded, "that I gave that to...?"

"Gone. Dead."

A shadow curled around Danny's fist as he listened. Fury echoed off of him like a boisterous voice in a cave, but Danny restrained himself when he saw Vlad' s eyes widen as the shadow menacingly encircling his fist.

"Everyone is in hiding?" He asked with a sharp point to his words, trying to ignore Vlad who had been trying to interject into the conversation. He was practically bouncing where he stood.

Skulker answered, a slight waver in his baritone words. "Yes... or dead."

"Then this is the Second Purge," the Apprentice stated, his eyes glazed over with a stoic lense. Anger was behind, but the need for information kept him in check. "What plague did this idiot release upon the world?"

And it only took a single word to create quite a few effects.

"The Scoahs."

It was one word.

Danny paled and stumbled back, only remaining upright because of the hand on his shoulder. Panic flooded the teen's synapses and adrenaline caught in his throat. It couldn't be. The Ancients weren't that idiotic! His posture deflated and the lithe figure trembled. Hyperventilating a little, Danny shuddered and said with a petrified, hysterical laugh, "Well, I suppose you are joining me in exile, then. There's no way you're going back in the Zone, not with them hunting."

"What in the name of the Packers is a Scoah? And what exactly are they hunting?" Vlad piped up hastily, unaccustomed to not being the center of the conversation. Danny turned to his former enemy with a grimace plastered onto his face. Dread filled the soft,barely noticeable lines in the young halfa's visage as a weariness flooded over the arctic eyes.

Danny gazed into the navy eyes of the elder halfa and sighed.

"Scoahs," he began, "are the bleach of the universe. They take orders. They find their target. But most of all...

"They _feed_."

* * *

**FLASHBACK: Time Realm**

"But what if I mess up?"

Clockwork looked at his half ghost charge with a smile. The teen had been hobbling around the tower for a month now, eager to learn, but still healing. Every once in awhile a small wince would escape the child's lips and Clockwork was reminded of the scarlet gashes emblazoned on his chest that were mending quickly, but painfully. Not that this stopped the young one, of course. Danny followed him as a baby hawk would follow the mother to learn to fly, but there was always an element of anxiety. The Time Master could see it. His apprentice was eager to please, in fact, Danny needed that emotional security. He needed to know that Clockwork still cares for him.

"You will not "mess up", as you say, Danny," the Time Ghost's smile did not fade as he continued, "Besides, you have been my apprentice for only a few weeks, fledgling, and you have not exactly been in prime condition. It will come with _time_."

"With time... Punny, Clockwork. Very punny," A lopsided half smile painted over the young halfa's worn visage. He looked to the Time Master with flawless emerald eyes and the smirk grew.

Clockwork watched as Danny's jovial mood persist through the fidgeting bandages. The grin hit his eyes this time as he quipped, "Do I at least get a reset button?"

The Time Master stopped for three twentieths second and a douse of seriousness came over him. Hmm... Sensing a teachable moment, he gestured for his apprentice to follow. As they floated down the tower stairs, Clockwork explained.

"Well," he began, "in a way, there is a reset. However, there is no reset to the reset."

"What do you mean?" The teen's eyes comically grew a size in confusion, to which Clockwork only chuckled. The duo descended farther until to the right of the spiral staircase stood a door with a scarlet letter "A" emblazoned on the wood work.

Clockwork felt the familiar, but still sickening chill run down his spine and to he saw his apprentice shiver. Wrapping an arm lightly around Danny's shoulders, the Time Master gave his shoulder a small squeeze of reassurance before tapping the door with his staff. The door glowed an iridescent red before a glass pane appeared in the middle of the door, revealing the contents of the room.

Inside the large room was pitch black with an eerie crimson glow emanating from the walls of the chamber. Clockwork watched as Danny strained his eyes to see the creatures inside. It took the young one a few moments before a soft, "oh" left his lips with a gasp.

The cloth-like creatures floated ominously around one another, twirling aimlessly until all at once, they turned to face the door. As they turned, a glowing, bloodshot red eye pulsed with intense hunger in the center of the drifting textile specters.

Clockwork watched as his lithe Apprentice starred, fixed on the single gaze of the Scoah closest to them. Danny's breathing quickened as he was immersed in the gaze, seeing something that even his mentor could not. The boy trembled and shook in Clockwork's arms and paled before the Time Master led the teen away with the arm around the youth's shoulders.

"W-w-what are they?" Danny gasped as he weakly gripped the arm enveloping him. Clockwork did not answer him at first, but instead took them quickly back up the stairs to the young man's room where he laid the child on the well worn armchair. They were both quiet for a few moments before the elder specter began to speak with a soft murmur.

"They are Scoahs," Clockwork grimaced at the name. "They are the last resort. That is your reset button; however, I caution you not to use it, for these creatures kill all when released. You would not survive the release of the Scoahs and I fear that your soul could not take on the fault of that much death.

"You see, my boy," the Time Master carded his hand gently through the pallid teen's raven locks, "even if catastrophe occurs, you will always have the option, no matter how awful that option is. But you will not need it, my child."

Danny looked doubtfully up at his mentor from the midnight bedspread. With desperation he asked, "But how do you know?"

Clockwork smiled back at the young man. It was a soft, fatherly smile, one that the Time Master could tell reassured the teen. "I just do." He said, "I do not need to see the future to know this. I have faith in you, my apprentice.

"You just need to have faith in yourself."

* * *

_Well... there goes my attempt at a schedule. Sorry guys...again. It's summer, so I'll try to be better. _

_Please review. They do keep me going. I would've quit a long time ago without you guys. Thanks so much! But please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and where you think it's going._

_Thanks again,_

_kirby_


End file.
